REUSE AND RECYCLING AS A SOLUTION TO URBAN SOLID WASTE PROBLEMS IN INDONESIA. Enri Damanhuri and Tri Padmi

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1 REUSE AND RECYCLING AS A SOLUTION TO URBAN SOLID WASTE PROBLEMS IN INDONESIA Enri Damanhuri and Tri Padmi Department of Environmental Engineering - Institut Teknologi Bandung (DEE-ITB) Jalan Ganesa 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia - eda@bdg.centrin.net.id ABSTRACT: The average generation of municipal solid waste in Indonesia, contains about 70% garbage, is about 2.5 liters per capita per day. Until the present, the authority of urban municipalities is transporting the solid waste from designated collection disposal to a location for its final dumping. At the national level, only 40% of the waste from the urban population is collected, the rest is burned and disposed off into streams or open land. Most of the local authorities practiced crude open dumping, creating a despondent situation at the landfill sites. The present level of recycling and composting (about 8%) will not be sufficient to slowdown significantly waste generation in the future. The potentials for reuse and recycling have not been fully realized because of a multitude of problems, such as the current solid waste management practices carried out by the cleansing agencies. KEYWORDS: solid waste management, wet wastes, dry wastes, recycling, composting, waste pickers, informal sector INTRODUCTION The fast population growth and increased activities in large cities like Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Makassar, etc. had resulted in the increase of waste generation. The estimate in 1995 was that the institutions responsible for waste handling could only manage about 40% of the generated municipal wastes. The rest of the waste will usually be burned or disposed off carelessly, including to water bodies, and considered as one of the causes of floods. The low level of waste handling service in general had resulted in an increase of water, land, and air pollution, exceeding the allowable quality standards. Uncontrolled burning of wastes around Jakarta was assumed to contribute to pollution by around 20% of particulate (Agenda 21 - Indonesia, 1997). Indonesia has not yet recovered from the economic crisis of 1997, thus there is no improvements in urban solid waste handling as such. This is mainly due to the expensive spare parts for the waste transport trucks, as well as the decreasing scale of priority given to waste management. The following is an illustration of the condition of waste handling capacities in the city of Bandung (Ismaria, 2000). At present, 65% of the available vehicles has exceed the required technical age (more than 8 years), causing a decreasing capacity for transporting the wastes. The present operational cost for waste handling is Rp 1600/m 3 (US$ 0.22/m 3 ), whereas the normal standard requires a cost of at least Rp 7500/m 3 (US$ 1.0/m 3 ). The local government has to provide subsidies to cover the already very low costs. When converted into the operational technical subsystem, the cost proportion for activities at transfer stations is 25.3%, for waste transport 42.8%, and for activities at the final disposal site 31.9%. In general, the task of the City Cleansing Office is to convey the waste from transfer stations to the final dumping site, whereas the urban community manages the waste collection

2 from houses to the transfer station themselves. In certain protocol areas and special zones, door-to-door collection is applicable. Since the economic crisis, the income through retribution in the city of Bandung, for example, is decreasing along with the slackening capacities of the people. It is indeed hard to raise the retribution, considering the still limited capacity of the people. The average retribution in middle to lower class housing areas in Bandung is Rp /month/household, whereas the middle to higher class households pay Rp per month. It was reported in 1999 that the waste transported to the final disposal site is 71% (Ismaria, 2000). Nevertheless, there is a great possibility that the real amount of transported waste is less than the above figure. When part of the waste is not for transferring to the final disposal site, the transportation cost can be reduced in accordance with the reduced amount of transported waste. The reduced amount of transported waste will also reduce the operation and maintenance costs of heavy equipment, and the operational cost at the final disposal site as well. Besides, the reduction will prolong the service life-time of the existing landfill. To get a picture of municipal solid waste generation in Indonesia, Table 1 presents figures of waste generation in several cities, excerpted from various reports, as follows: Table 1: Waste generation in several Indonesian cities in 1997 City Population L/capita/day Kg/capita/day Jakarta 9,527, Surabaya 2,837, Bandung 2,501, Makassar 1,300, POTENTIALS FOR URBAN WASTE RECYCLING Agenda 21 Indonesia (1997) estimated the potential for dry urban waste recycling to be 15-25%, and the potential of composted wet waste is 30-40%. Thus, the estimated potential for urban waste recycling is 45-65%. However, the rate of waste recycling in Indonesian cities, through waste-picking and recycling house industries as well as composting, is approximated to only reach 8.1%. The Ministry of Public Works reckoned that 70% of the municipal solid waste in Indonesia comprised of organic waste, 28% inorganic waste, and 2% is in the hazardous waste category (Sianipar, 1999). Out of the 70% of organic waste, around 54% (or 38% of the total waste) is easily degradable and has the potential for composting. Furthermore, out of the 28% inorganic waste, around 71% (or 20% of the total waste) have the potentials for reuse as material for recycling. Consequently, the estimated potential of municipal solid waste for recycling is reaching 58%. The importance of municipal solid waste recycling in reducing the amount of to be transported waste had been recognized already since more than 15 years ago. Activities of waste pickers in the recycling of dry waste are much seen in cities, which can help reduce the amount of waste that has to be transported to the final disposal site (Poerbo, 1989). The concept of a Garbage Industrial Estate had been introduced already since the eighties, in the effort of assisting the urban waste managers to reduce the amount of the waste to be transported (Poerbo, 1991). Located in a housing area, this facility will accept and sort the waste by their kinds for recycling. The non-recycled residue will then have to be transported

3 to the final disposal site. Unfortunately, the concept did not get a positive response from the most of the municipal waste administrators in particular. One of the apprehensions is that the effort will disturb the standard operation system based on the collect-transport-dispose concept. The above mentioned integrated waste handling concept had been implemented gradually on a limited scale at several cities in Indonesia, such as Surabaya (Sianipar, 1999), Jakarta (Bujonowati, 1999), Bandung (Rafei, 1999). However, based on observations, the waste handling centers were not developing satisfactorily. The reason was that the urban waste administrators have not yet fully accepted the concept as part of the urban waste management system. The effort to promote recycling or reuse of waste is noticeable in large cities in Indonesia, such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, and others, involving the informal sector. Although their existence gave rise to many pro- and contra- sentiments, the fact is that the informal sector has proven their role in (a) reducing the amount of waste for being transported to the final dumping site, (b) supplying raw materials for industries, such as plastic industries, and (c) creating a source of income for the community. A paradigm shift in waste handling will take place soon in Indonesia hopefully, spurred by the issuance (forthcoming) of the Minister of Home Affairs' Decree. The Draft of Minister's Decree underlines that urban waste handling will be based on waste minimizing and recycling. There are 3 levels in the hierarchy of integrated waste handling at waste management facilities, namely: (a) individual scale; (b) neighborhood area scale; and (c) final disposal site scale. Moreover, the informal sector that have been actively involved in urban waste recycling undertakings so far, will be integrated in the municipal solid waste management system centered at the waste handling facilities. They are, among others, the pemulung (waste pickers), bos lapak (middle-men), and bandar (dealers) (Semb et al. 1998). POTENTIALS FOR RECYCLING OF DRY WASTE Dry waste is the most easily found object for waste recycling in large cities in Indonesia. The recycling activity engages the informal sector, to include house-wives, waste workers (from the cleansing office), vendors of used articles, and waste pickers. Second-hand clothes, old newspapers, used bottles, cement bags, etc. are not considered as waste but as saleable things. Middle-men or intermediary traders are found in all corners of the Indonesian cities to buy used articles directly door-to-door. Another very active group is the waste pickers. The following figures (Figure 1 and Figure 2) give an illustration of waste reduction practices in Indonesia, from source to the final disposal site through recycling activities. The existence of waste pickers in the waste management system brings about two different opinions. Some people consider the activity will not only provide opportunities for the poor people to work in this sector, but will also help reduce the amount of waste for disposal to the final dumping site. The waste generated by households will be reduced its weight in accordance with the travel of the waste to the final disposal site. A most recent study carried out in Bandung (Ismaria, 2000) revealed that the recycled dry waste from housing areas amounts to 10.9% % in middle- and upper class neighborhoods, and 21.9% % in middle- and lower class neighborhoods. The recycled materials separated by the waste pickers are plastic, (PE, PS, PP, HDPE, LDPE, PVC, and

4 plastic drums), paper (crumpled, colored, duplex, archives, cones, newspaper, HVS), metal (aluminum, brass, copper, zinc, iron, metal drums), cloth (dust cloth, rags, polyester, cotton), glass (beer bottles, soy-sauce bottles, medicine bottle or vials), and rubber. The waste considered not worth for picking are, among others, food rests, plastic snack packages, batteries and lamps. Door-to-door SYSTEM Sources House Holds Hand Carts Temporary Dumping Truck Final Disposal ACTORS Households Handcart Crews and Crews Driver Team Secondary Collectors Primary Collectors Factories Wastes Figure 1: Waste recycling in MSW (modified after Djoko Heru et al, 1992) Recovered materials Bandar Suppliers and Intermediate Factories Market Bos Lapak Prcocessed Goods Waste Trades Mobile Temporary Dumping Final Disposal Handcart Crews Drivers Team Figure 2: Waste pathway in MSW recycling (modified after Manfred Oepen, 1992)

5 POTENTIALS FOR RECYCLING OF WET WASTE Composting is one of the various techniques for the handling of waste containing biodegradable organic materials. Compost will not only function as an organic fertilizer, it will also function in improving the soil structure, enhancing the capacities of the soil to absorb and retain water as well as other nutrients. Considering its composition, a greater part of the municipal solid waste in Indonesia is categorized as wet waste, or organic waste. Considering also that most of the wet waste comprises of food rests, especially kitchen garbage, this kind of waste will rot easily, or degradable by the many kinds of microorganisms existing in nature. When this happens, the mass of waste will be reduced drastically. Men developed this rotting process further to composting and biogasification. However, when this mechanism occurs naturally, especially in environments with oversaturated carrying capacities, there will be problems of aesthetics and discomforts, especially the unpleasant smell from the untreated piles of waste. With a relatively high humidity and temperature like Indonesia, the microorganisms will speedily break down the waste material. This condition is encouraging the development of appropriate technologies. Traditional composting is already practiced in Indonesia. Several large cities in Indonesia have already implemented the technology, especially at the final disposal site. However, the main problem faced by most compost producers is marketing the compost. Many composting ventures collapsed, as there is no market for the product. Not only because of the high price due to transport costs, the quality of the produced compost has not met the market requirement. Research and studies are carried out continuously to improving the quality of the compost, in laboratories as well as on the fields. Among others is the use of dedak (crushed outer skin of rice) mixture, or the addition of cellulase to speed up the composting process (Meilani, 2000). Testing on the individual composters gave positive results. One composter with a capacity of 100 liters (Damanhuri et al, 1993) liters to accommodate an average kitchen waste of 5 persons per day, can be used up to 6 months. After 6 months, the composter will produce compost of satisfactory quality. Several cities in Indonesia have applied this technology at certain housing areas. Assuming the community is willing to accept and use this technology, then a great part of the problem of solid waste is solved. Another effort worth considering is the use of wet waste as media for worm farming. The earthworm used is from family of annelid (Lumbricidae). The main issue in implementing this technology is the separation of waste at source, namely to sort out the suitable waste to be used as media. The sorted waste is then composted for 2 weeks. Based on results of field testing at a neighborhood scale (Damanhuri, 1999), about 40% of the wet waste can be used for the media. The product is called casting a kind of compost of better quality, with finer granules and ready for sale. Besides, the worm biomass can be used as a protein source, for example, for fish or animal feed. CONCLUSION Population growth will increase the amount of waste generation to be managed. Being in a difficult economic condition, the environmental problem in large cities in Indonesia is increasingly depressing. From the aspect of available fund allocation, municipal waste

6 handling will always be given low priority. It will be hard for the existing urban waste service capacities in Indonesian cities to catch up with the increased waste generation. When city administrators do not want to leave the old practice based on the concept of collect - transport - dispose, the amount of waste that can be transported will be decreasing, along with the decreasing capacity of existing transportation modes. Therefore, a new paradigm is needed in waste management, among others to reduce, as much as possible, the amount of waste for disposal from sources up to the final dumping site through recycling activities. Recycling is in fact not a new issue in Indonesia. Both the formal sector (municipal waste administrators) as well as the informal sector, have been in this business already. However, these activities are yet not well-integrated and tend to be less sustainable. A strong political will is needed from all parties, the waste generators, waste managers, as well as the other actors involved so far with waste, to handle the problem of waste together and in integration. REFERENCES (1997). Agenda 21 Indonesia - A national strategy for sustainable development. State Ministry for Environment RI - UNDP. Ismaria, R. (2000). Studi mekanisme dan interaksi daur-ulang terhadap sistem pengelolaan sampah dengan pengembangan model dinamik - Studi kasus Kotamadya Bandung. Master thesis in Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung. Sianipar, P. (1999). Kajian pemanfaatan sampah terpadu dalam penanganan sampah di Surabaya. Master thesis in Development Studies, Institut Teknologi Bandung. Poerbo, H. (1989). Tukang pulung dan sampah menyongsong hari depan lebih baik. Jurnal Lingkungan dan Pembangunan, 9 (1-2). Poerbo, H. (1991). Urban solid waste management in Bandung - towards an integrated resource recovery system. Environment and Urbanization, 3 (1). Bujonowati, D.G. (1999). Evaluasi penerapan konsep usaha daur-ulang dan produksi kompos di DKI Jakarta. Master thesis in Development Studies, Institut Teknologi Bandung. Rafei, A.B.S. (1999) Feasibility analysis for composting of urban organic waste in the Bandung Region, Indonesia. Master thesis in Urban Environmental Management, Management and Planning of the Physical Environment, Rotterdam. Damanhuri, E. (1996) Pengelolaan persampahan, suatu tantangan bagi kota besar. Seminar paper at Center of Environmental Studies - Universitas Hasanuddin Ujungpandang, September Damanhuri E. et al. (1999) Uji coba pemusnahan sampah dengan vermi-kompos skala lingkungan. Report to the Ministry of Public Works. Damanhuri E. and Tri Padmi (1993) Pengolahan sampah secara individual dan kajian potensi enersinya. Report to the Ministry of Education National. Heru, D. et al. (1992) Potensi daur- ulang di Jakarta. Paper, Seminar on waste and sustainable development - a challenge to environmental education, Goethe-Institut - BPPT. Oepen, M. (1992) Paper, Seminar on waste and sustainable development - a challenge to environmental education, Goethe-Institut - BPPT. Meilany, L.T. (2000). Studi kinetika degradasi komponen sampah organik. Seminar paper, Program Magister Teknik Lingkungan, Institut Teknologi Bandung. Semb, T., Meyn, A., Oepen, M. (1998). Bandung integrated recycling center - BIRC. BAPEDA and PD Kebersihan Bandung, in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit - GTZ. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author would like to thank Mrs. Lanny Hardhy for her assistance in the preparation of this paper.