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RI at incinerator policy crossroads
Fifteen years have passed since an avalanche of waste at Leuwigajah landfill in Cimahi, West Java, killed at least 147 people—a tragedy that was not unheard of in Indonesia, a country that produces 64 million tons of waste annually
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ifteen years have passed since an avalanche of waste at Leuwigajah landfill in Cimahi, West Java, killed at least 147 people—a tragedy that was not unheard of in Indonesia, a country that produces 64 million tons of waste annually.
Rather than pushing people to reduce consumption and sort their own waste at home, the government is pinning its hopes on incinerators, also known as waste-to-energy power plants (PLTSa), which are still heavily criticized for environmental and financial drawbacks.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) does not support the incinerator plan. It concluded through a study on PLTSa in March that they would potentially put a strain on local administrations’ budgets and state electricity firm PLN due to the “unfair business model” that it found in the government-to-business cooperation (KPBU) scheme implemented for the project.
The KPK estimated that local administrations would bear high annual tipping and processing fees that could reach up to Rp 2 trillion (US$134 million). PLN would have to spend Rp 1.6 trillion to purchase electricity sold from the power plants, as the regulated price was much higher than that commonly sold by coal-fired power plants at around 5 US cent per kilowatt hour (kWh).
“Local administrations will only be getting rid of their waste, while, in the middle, there are private companies as operators [...] which will have zero risk, because they would gain a certain income [from local administrations] and sales [from PLN],” said KPK prevention director Pahala Nainggolan.
He also pointed out the relatively small amount of waste that could be processed in a plant, citing Jakarta as an example, which will only have about 30 percent of its daily waste processed. “It doesn’t fix the problem,” Pahala said.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo issued Presidential Regulation No. 35/2018 on the acceleration of waste-to-energy plant construction, which aims to speed up the development of PLTSa in 12 cities.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said the capacity of the plant in each city would vary, ranging from 10 megawatt hours (mWh) to 35 mWh, totaling 234 mWh. PLN will purchase the electricity at 13.35 US cents per kWh, as regulated by the presidential regulation.
The plants are expected to begin operations in 2019 but so far, none have started running.
The Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister, which helms the acceleration of the project, said many investors had shown interest in the plan. It reported that at least five cities had secured investors: Surakarta, Surabaya, Palembang, Bekasi and Jakarta—all of which had acquired funding except for Bekasi as of February.
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“When we talk about the high price, it must be compared to the benefits that we gain. If it is expensive but we can fix a bigger problem; then can it be considered expensive?”
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Only Surabaya is ready to operate a plant but is behind its operational target of last year. Jakarta has yet to start construction despite a groundbreaking ceremony being held in December 2018.
Bandung, Semarang, Makassar and South Tangerang have completed feasibility studies and are preparing to hold tenders.
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment’s (Walhi) head campaigner for energy and urban issues, Dwi Sawung, criticized the presidential regulation supporting the use of incinerators that emit toxins, such as dioxin and furan, into the air, and which could potentially cause cancer.
“Developed countries have shifted to biogas, which doesn’t create emissions. The use of incinerators requires a large budget and when people begin to intensively sort their waste, the waste supply to the PLTSa will decline and it won’t be effective,” he said.
In the United States, community resistance has always erupted wherever municipal solid waste (MSW) incinerators are located, a 2019 report by the New School’s Tishman Environment and Design Center said.
The report revealed that the current state of MSW incineration seemed to be in decline due to a volatile revenue model, aging and costly operation and maintenance costs, and increasing attention on issues related to zero waste, environmental justice and climate change. The country saw at least 31 MSW incinerators close since 2000 due to issues such as insufficient revenue or the inability to afford required upgrades.
The coordinating maritime affairs and investment minister’s mining and energy infrastructure deputy assistant, Yohannes Yudi Prabangkara, conceded that the incinerators were expensive but he believed they were worth the price.
“When we talk about the high price, it must be compared to the benefits that we gain. If it is expensive but we can fix a bigger problem; then can it be considered expensive?” he said.
Yohannes said the central government had prepared various schemes to help local administrations with their tipping fees, although he expressed hope that they would come up with their own solutions.
The high cost to install an incinerator has pushed several local administrations to turn to the central government for assistance. West Java, for example, is proposing that the government cover 30 percent of the Rp 3.45 trillion it would need to construct the Legok Nangka disposal site.
The West Java administration said it had not heard back from the central government regarding the proposal and no companies have been appointed to run the dumpsite.
