Jatiwaringin Landfill Fire Worsens Amid El Niño Fears

A seven-day blaze at the Jatiwaringin landfill in Tangerang, Indonesia, has consumed 80 percent of the site, forcing nearby residents to evacuate. The fire, which has ravaged 15 to 18 hectares, highlights systemic weaknesses in Indonesia's waste management as the nation grapples with the severe El Niño climate phenomenon.

Experts warn of a dangerous feedback loop: El Niño's prolonged dry seasons and extreme droughts dry out massive waste piles, making them highly flammable. These fires, in turn, release significant amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas with a warming potential 21 to 28 times greater than carbon dioxide. This intensifies the climate crisis and fuels extreme weather events like El Niño.

"The 'Godzilla' El Niño phenomenon is an alarm that the climate crisis is becoming increasingly real," said Bondan Andriyanu, advocacy and outreach manager at the CERAH Foundation. He noted that while El Niño is natural, its impacts are amplified by climate change, largely driven by fossil fuel use and worsened by methane emissions from poor waste management.

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The 'Godzilla' El Niño phenomenon is an alarm that the climate crisis is becoming increasingly real. Although El Niño is a natural occurrence, its impacts have become far more extreme due to climate change, driven by the accumulation of greenhouse gases, particularly from fossil fuel use. This crisis is exacerbated by methane emissions from substandard waste management, as seen in the TPA Jatiwaringin blazes.

Yuyun Ismawati, a senior advisor at the Nexus3 Foundation, pointed out that over 400 landfills in Indonesia still use open-dumping methods lacking proper gas or leachate management. This makes them prone to fires during extended dry seasons. She urged the central government to provide adequate annual budgets for landfill management to regional and municipal authorities, emphasizing the need for systematic risk mitigation and preventative programs.

Ismawati also called for stricter technical standards and air quality monitoring around disposal sites, expanding metrics beyond dust to include PM2.5, PM10, carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and especially dioxins. She stressed the need for legally binding air quality thresholds to trigger timely evacuations, as residents are often only evacuated after fires are out of control and smoke has spread widely.

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Landfill fires actually occur every year, yet the government has failed to implement systematic risk mitigation or preventative programs to this day. The central government must assist regional and municipal authorities by allocating adequate operational budgets for landfill management annually to minimize fire risks and prevent transboundary pollution.