Jakarta Seizes Momentum to Fix Citywide Waste Reform
Reported by Fakhrizal Fakhri | Translated by Nugroho Adibrata
Jakarta City Council Commission D Chairwoman, Yuke Yurike has called for the cessation of open dumping at the Bantargebang Landfill—effective August 1—to serve as a catalyst for revamping Jakarta’s waste management from start to finish.
All incoming waste must first undergo treatment
She said that open dumping is no longer permitted under Ministry of Environment directives. Consequently, the Jakarta government is transitioning to controlled landfills, a safer and more eco-friendly system designed to transform the city's environmental footprint.
Starting August 1, 2026, the city targets that 25% of the waste sent to the Bantargebang Landfill will be processed residue. This is the first phase of a strategic roadmap to completely eliminate open dumping by 2029.
Yuke Yurike Urges Residents to Take Good Care of RTH"Open dumping is strictly prohibited. All incoming waste must first undergo treatment—it needs to be processed, compacted, and covered under a sanitary landfill system," she expressed, at the City Council Building, Tuesday (8/4).
Yuke emphasized that shifting waste systems should not mean Jakarta remains reliant on Bantargebang, as space for raw waste is rapidly vanishing.
She urged the Jakarta government to accelerate the Sort, Transport, and Process model within the city to slash waste volumes at the source. A key part of her proposal is supercharging TPS 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) sites. Currently handling less than five tons a day, these facilities need a major capacity boost.
"Optimizing every TPS 3R site is the game-changer we need to tackle waste at the neighborhood level," she noted.
To tackle the growing waste crisis, the city is pushing for the rapid operation of organic waste facilities in Ciangir while inviting private sector collaboration.
She believes that private partnerships are the answer to Jakarta’s fiscal constraints. Under this model, investors provide the technology at zero cost to the City Budget (APBD), producing high-value outputs like RDF (Refuse-Derived Fuel) and recycled plastic pellets, which already have guaranteed offtakers.
"If third parties can help us process waste through schemes like tipping fees, we should absolutely explore it. The priority is to stop the mounting trash from spiraling into a new disaster," she asserted.
Yuke highlighted that while every district should ideally have its own mini-processing hub, Jakarta’s severe land scarcity remains a major hurdle.
To bridge this gap, she urged the government to get creative—utilizing idciryle lands and deploying compact technologies tailored to each neighborhood. The ultimate goal is total waste independence from Bantargebang Landfill.
"We need to move fast. By optimizing our potential and involving every stakeholder, we can solve Jakarta’s waste crisis step-by-step," he stated.
