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View all search resultsSupply challenges, dependency risks cast shadow over waste-to-energy drive
Local administrations say meeting the strict waste-supply targets will be difficult to sustain over the long term.
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A worker gathers plastic waste collected at a depot from 660 waste banks across Surabaya, East Java, on June 17, 2025. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
T
he government is set to launch US$5 billion worth of waste-to-energy (WtE) projects this month in a bid to tackle the country’s mounting waste problem, but local administrations say meeting the strict waste-supply targets will be difficult to sustain over the long term.
Aside from that, environmental experts have also warned of a moral hazard, saying that overreliance on WtE projects could discourage efforts to reduce waste at the source.
The government is in the process of revising Presidential Regulation No. 35/2018 on the acceleration of WtE projects, with 10 “priority” sites in Jakarta, Bali, Yogyakarta, Banten, West Java, Central Java and North Sumatra expected to be launched later this month.
Coordinating Food Minister Zulkifli Hasan, who heads the national task force, said these locations had been pre-approved by the government as they met key requirements: land availability and a feedstock commitment of at least 1,000 tonnes of waste per day.
“We’ve given Danantara three months to complete the administrative process, and construction should start within three to six months,” Zulkifli said in an interview with Detik on Monday, referring to the state asset fund overseeing the projects.
The projects will be partly financed by Danantara, using a mix of equity and debt, with funds drawn from the Rp 50 trillion (US$3.1 billion) raised from the issuance of a low-coupon instrument called the Patriot Bond earlier this month.
The remainder will be funded through private partnerships, with the state fund set to tender eight WtE projects in four cities by the end of October.
