F

ive representatives from the Osaki town administration in Japan have pitched the idea of possible cooperation with the Jakarta administration in building and running a recycling center.

“We are here to inform, train and give an example as to how our waste-management system works,” project manager Tokurei Katsuya told The Jakarta Post on Monday, after the closed-door meeting with Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and other city officials.

Osaki town in Kagoshima prefecture boasts an 85 percent recycling rate, the highest in Japan. In comparison, Jakarta’s recycling rate is around 7 percent.

Jakarta still relies largely on Bantar Gebang landfill in Bekasi, West Java, which, at 110 hectares, is the largest landfill in Indonesia and receives between 6,000 and 7,000 tons of trash daily.

Tokurei explained that the Osaki system was suitable for Jakarta because it relies on neighborhood units, similar to Indonesia’s community units (RW) and neighborhood units (RT), to sort trash into 27 categories — such as aluminum, plastic, paper and food waste — before it is handed over to waste management authorities.

To that end, the Osaki city administration is also ready to provide material and technical support to build the Jakarta recycling center, and train waste-management authorities to familiarize communities with this new system.

If approved, Tokurei and his team would oversee the operation of the center for three years in the hope that, by the end of the guidance period, Jakarta, and other Indonesian cities, will adopt the system.

Tokurei added that the Osaki system also adopted a holistic approach to waste management, which still uses incinerators and landfills in proportion to the amount of nonrecyclable trash.

“In my experience, the trickiest part of waste management is deciding exactly how much trash should be incinerated, thrown in a landfill or recycled. It is important to not let any recyclable material end up in the incinerator or landfill,” said Tokurei.

He added that, because of their reliance on community participation and reduced incinerator and landfill usage, their system was much more low-cost compared to other Japanese cities.

Jakarta Environment Agency head Isnawa Adji, who attended the closed-door meeting, expressed approval of the Osaki team’s ideas.

“They can help the environment agency tackle waste in the city because they are experienced in implementing reducing, reusing and recycling in Japan,” he told the Post on Monday.

The approval is necessary as, after the team secures support from Governor Anies, the team will also have to establish a memorandum of understanding with the agency to implement the plan. Should both the governor and agency approve, the governor will sign a contract, and they can begin construction of the recycling center.

Trisakti University urbanist Nirwono Joga concurred with the idea of a community-led waste-management system. He stressed that it was critical for communities, from the smallest RT and RW units, to reduce waste production and to sort waste before handing it over to waste-management authorities.

“And authorities must support communities by enforcing the law on, for example, littering, reducing plastic consumption and raising awareness about proper waste disposal,” he told the Post.

Indonesia has made several attempts to crack down on the waste problem with little success. In 2008, for example, the Environment and Forestry Ministry issued Regulation No. 2 on the utilization of toxic and dangerous waste. The regulation sought to introduce the public to the concept of 3R — reuse, reduce and recycle but, unfortunately, it did not catch on. (nor)