The real waste crisis isn't the trash— it's us

By Cindy Silviana

JAKARTA - While most Jakarta residents enjoy their weekends relaxing, 40-year-old Herny Yahya is busy processing waste at Samita Bank. Far from what you would expect of a typical bank, Samita Bank is a waste bank—a type of recycling center where people drop off their trash and earn rewards. Instead of an air-conditioned room handling cash transactions, it operates in a cramped 2 x 12 meter space overflowing with various types of waste, including empty mineral water bottles, cosmetic containers, coffee cups, CDs, old toys, books, and magazines. This waste is then sent to a central facility managed by Jakarta's local government to help reduce landfill waste.

Herny spends her Saturday morning removing plastic from mineral water bottles and their caps. Her clean hands quickly become dirty as she sorts and cleans the plastic bottles into the same category. Founded in 2018 by the Catholic Church Santa Maria Imakulata (SMI Church) in Kalideres, West Jakarta, Samita Bank aims to educate the community on proper waste sorting, reduce landfill use, and promote environmental care. All administrators, including Herny, are volunteers who receive only a free lunch in return for their efforts.

For her, working at Samita Bank is a way to serve her faith and community. However, she finds it challenging to change people’s attitudes towards waste management.

“People sometimes drop off their trash without sorting or cleaning it up first. When there are bottles with leftover liquid left behind, it ends up on our hands, which can be irritating or smelly. It’s frustrating when people just think of Samita as just a waste collector,” said Herny, who has been with Samita Bank for four years.

Proper sorting is essential. Waste that isn’t cleaned or sorted properly requires extra time to process, which can lower its value. Mixed waste, like combining different types of plastics, decreases the payment from the central waste bank. In contrast, clean and well-sorted waste gets a higher payout.

“I often get calls from people asking why they received less money for their waste. Items like small drink bottles with liquid end up being dirty and less valuable,” said Liva Natasya, the treasurer at Samita Bank. She deals with similar issues when managing public expectations.

Despite the challenges, both Liva and Herny ensure to sort and clean their waste at home before disposal. “I now understand the different types of plastics and even save drink bottles that I used to throw away,” Liva shared.

The Church, through Samita Bank and its Environmental Community, is actively fostering environmental awareness among its 17,000 members. Their initiatives, aligned with the Laudato Si' movement inspired by Pope Francis' encyclical, focus on the urgent need to care for our common home, planet Earth. These efforts include encouraging the use of personal drinking bottles at events, employing reusable plastic glasses and plates, promoting water refilling, supporting the creation of eco-enzymes from organic waste, and teaching craft-making with sachets.

Some initiatives have proven successful. For instance, encouraging people to use their own reusable water bottles or create eco-enzymes—a solution made from fruit and vegetable peels used for cleaning or as natural pesticides—has had a positive impact on raising environmental awareness and reducing waste.

However, improving waste sorting remains a challenge. Even though the Church provides clearly labeled bins for different types of waste, incorrect disposal still happens frequently.

“We need to be proactive in educating people, even just by reminding them to dispose of waste correctly. It might seem small, but it’s crucial for raising awareness,” said Margono Ana, a former head of the Environmental section at SMI Church.

Waste remains Jakarta’s chronic problem?

Waste continues to be a significant issue in Jakarta. The Jakarta Provincial Environment Agency reported that the city generates 8,607 tons of waste daily in 2022, amounting to approximately 3.14 million tons annually. Nevertheless, only 26% of this waste was diverted from landfills.

Bantargebang, operating since 1989 in Bekasi, West Java, is Indonesia’s largest waste landfill and one of the largest in Southeast Asia. It covers 110.3 hectares and stands as high as a 16-story building, exclusively handling Jakarta’s waste.

An aerial view showing heavy machinery transferring waste at the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Management Site in Bekasi, West Java, on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Photo: KOMPAS)

Efforts to reduce waste include developing refuse-derived fuel (RDF) facilities at Bantargebang and establishing Reuse, Reduce, Recycle (TPS3R) waste processing sites across Jakarta. In 2023, the provincial government built seven TPS3R units and plans to add four more this year. These units can process 25 to 50 tons of waste per day and produce RDF.

Education through communities and school on waste management is also encouraged. One way to achieve this is through waste banks. According to a study from Sustainable Waste Indonesia (SWI), the post-consumer plastic recycling capacity reached 421,000 tons per year. ? The largest contributors to plastic recycling are waste pickers (84.3%), integrated waste management facilities/recycling centers (13%), and waste banks (2.7%).

While Jakarta is making efforts to reduce landfill waste, some plastic recycling companies continue to import plastic waste. According to the United Nations (UN) Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade), Indonesia received at least 22,000 tonnes of plastic waste from Australia in the 2023-2024 period, which is a 27.9% increase from the previous year’s 16,100 tonnes. Additionally, Japan sent approximately 12,460 tonnes of plastic waste to Indonesia in 2023, a 14.37% increase from the 10,670 tonnes sent in 2022.?

“They import because the waste from other countries is cleaner and cheaper. Foreign waste is usually sorted properly, unlike in Indonesia, where mixing and improper disposal are common,” explained Christine Halim, Chairwoman of the Indonesian Recycling Association (ADUPI).

She added that less than 5% of Indonesia's total plastic waste is recycled. Apart from the plastic waste that has not been properly sorted, not all plastic materials can be recycled because producers often choose cheaper raw materials.

Circular economy holds promise, but awareness must come first

Despite these issues, the potential of a circular economy is recognized. A circular economy focuses on reusing and recycling resources to reduce waste. The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) estimates that adopting a circular economy in five key sectors—food and beverages, textiles, construction, plastic packaging, and electronics—could boost Indonesia’s GDP by IDR 593-638 trillion by 2030. It could also save households nearly 9% of their budget, create 4.4 million jobs (75% for women), cut CO2 emissions by 126 million tonnes, and reduce water use by 6.3 billion cubic meters.

However, to realize these benefits, substantial effort is needed in educating people about waste sorting and enforcing laws. The 2021 National Socioeconomic (SUSENAS) survey revealed that 57.9% of Indonesian households don’t sort their trash. Only 20% report some level of waste sorting, and just 9% do so consistently.

Several factors contribute to this low awareness. One reason, according to Kompas, is that many people are unfamiliar with the different types of waste and how to properly categorize them. Additionally, some people, while aware of the issue, believe that waste management is solely the government's responsibility, neglecting individual participation. To address this, it is crucial to raise public awareness of waste segregation. One way to do this is through local waste banks and providing different types of waste bins.

Strict enforcement of waste management laws is crucial. While Law Number 18 of 2008 mandates individual responsibility for waste management, the lack of effective penalties has hindered enforcement. This has allowed many individuals to disregard their obligations, contributing to the ongoing waste crisis.

“We hope that the public becomes more aware of sorting waste at the source. Additionally, the government needs to enforce the law more strictly and impose penalties like the government does in Singapore, so that people will think twice before disposing of waste improperly,” Christine said.?

Addressing the waste crisis requires a collaborative effort between the government, private sector, NGOs, and communities to foster a culture of waste sorting. Ultimately, waste itself is not the true enemy; rather, it is our attitudes and behaviors that perpetuate the problem. By changing our perspective and taking responsibility for our waste, we can transform a challenge into an opportunity for creating a healthier ecosystem.

Watch the consequences of not sorting trash in Jakarta. Are you still going to skip sorting your garbage?

The article is also published on my blog .