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any will be aware that Jakarta has enacted a bylaw that will enable the city to modernize its waste management system, including by obliging households to split the waste they produce before they dump it. Regrettably, the ordinance remains unenforced due to the absence of implementing regulations.

 The city council passed the draft ordinance on May 21. Registered under Bylaw No. 3/2013 on waste management, the regulation lacks concrete follow-up actions by the Jakarta administration.

Of course, splitting garbage based on the categories of plastic, bottles, papers and others '€” is just a small part of the whole process of waste management. But the success of the policy will have a great impact in an effort to significantly reduce the volume of waste that has to be treated in waste treatment facilities.

The waste splitting system in Singapore, for example, manages to reduce up to 60 percent of its total solid waste before it is transported to incineration facilities.

Jakarta, which produces some 6,500 tons of solid waste per day, remains dependant on the Bantar Gebang waste management facility in the neighboring city of Bekasi in West Java for its final treatment. Splitting it from households, therefore, will reduce the volume of the garbage.

The city administration, however, needs comprehensive preparation before it fully operates the waste splitting policy. An intensive campaign has to immediately begin because the system will only work if all residents take part.

Tireless promotion is important because the city has to change the old habit of its residents, who have been long accustomed to throwing all the waste into one garbage bin. Jakarta may need to learn from other cities, where waste treatment campaigns involve residents from an early age.

Readying the infrastructure to implement the new waste management system is also key. This includes different plastic bags in each household and rubbish cans of various colors in public places. Garbage trucks also need adjustment so as to transport the split garbage.

Changes to facilities in the final waste treatment plant will be required to make sure the waste remains split. It is important because there have been several areas in the city that have split their garbage. But their effort will be rendered useless if the garbage is blended again, even when it is still in the dump trucks.

It is also important to establish a professional waste management team that consists of dedicated human resources, so that they can do their job properly.

Many developed cities in the world allocate large amounts of funds to their waste treatment to ascertain professional handling of the garbage. Therefore, people working in the sanitary agencies, including waste collectors, are among the best paid employees because not many will take the job.

The waste splitting policy is a good starting point for the city to modernize Jakarta'€™s waste treatment facilities and at the same time revisit the whole waste management system. Let'€™s transform Jakarta into a clean and healthy place to live.