Andreas D. Arditya, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 11/12/2010 10:05 AM
As more residents set up their own communal waste management centers — so-called “trash banks” — the city administration plans to lend a hand by constructing “trash centers” in each municipality.
Jakarta Sanitation Agency head Eko Bharuna said the administration had earmarked up to Rp 400 million (US$44,800) to set up and run one trash center in each municipality. There are five municipalities and one regency in Jakarta.
There are 94 trash banks set up by local communities, mostly in Central and East Jakarta.
If each subdistrict had its own waste banks, there would be 267 facilities in 267 subdistricts.
“The trash banks are an initiative by local residents. What we will do with the trash center is just to help coordinate them,” Eko said.
Trash centers are also aimed at educating residents about processing and recycling waste. The 2008 Waste Management Law stipulates that the central and local governments help coordinate garbage collection.
In some trash banks already set up, residents collect and sort organic and non-organic waste. Organic waste is later processed into compost and non-organic waste is reused or recycled for sale.
In some areas, trash banks go as far as buying pre-sorted garbage from residents, luring more people into joining a waste management program.
Highly prized waste includes newspapers, plastic, paper, glass bottles and plastic containers.
Eko said his agency also assisted trash banks in selling their recycled products.
Jakarta produces around 6,000 tons of solid waste a day, 4,500 tons of which is dumped into the 110-hectare Bantar Gebang landfill in Bekasi.
Eko said a resident-initiated waste management program could help reduce the amount of trash by up to 60 tons per year.
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) said the trash center was a good idea, but there was a more pressing need for the administration to complete drafting bylaws to empower community-based waste management centers.
Walhi chairman Ubaidillah told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the bylaws would provide a clear blueprint on how the government would provide incentives for communities to manage their waste, consistent with the waste management law.
“The trash center is good as a long term goal. We expect that the project won’t be a one-off campaign,” he said.
Walhi says the city had only been able to reduce its garbage output by 7 percent, far less than the 15-20 percent reduction target stated in city’s the 2009-2012 medium-term development plan.
“The main goal should not be how to turn waste into money, but more fundamentally, how to reduce garbage,” Ubaidillah said.
The city administration is still drafting 11 bylaws on waste management that it expects to complete in 2012.
