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Waste Reduction in the Capital ‘Starts at Home’
Ulma Haryanto | April 10, 2010

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Given current growth projections for Greater Jakarta and the limited space for landfills, solid waste management is becoming a crisis — and the public needs to be part of the solution, a government expert said on Friday.

“Waste management should start at home. When everybody does their share in waste reduction, the amount of waste the city produces can decrease significantly,” Djoko Heru Martono, a waste-management specialist from the State Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), told the Jakarta Globe.

Although he admitted that it is hard to change long-standing behavior and habits, he was optimistic that growing numbers of people are aware that they should start reducing waste.

“The important thing is that we keep socializing and encouraging people to reduce their waste. We frequently disseminate simple composting techniques, we tell people how to properly sort their waste, recycle and encourage women to be creative by turning garbage into handicrafts,” he said.

He also praised a growing trend toward “green” communities, citing Rawajati village in South Jakarta. “They call themselves kampung hijau [green village] because they have their own integrated waste-management system,” he said.

Djoko also welcomed a recent government initiative to create three more town-scale landfills in Jakarta that hopefully would reduce pressure on the overwhelmed dump sites in Bantar Gebang in Bekasi and Sunter in North Jakarta.

“We are hoping that waste would first be processed in these landfills so that only the residue, which should be odorless, will be left and therefore won’t bother people living nearby,” he said.

Last month, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said the new landfills would be located in South Jakarta, Central Jakarta and North Jakarta. East Jakarta will be collaborating with the Bekasi government, while West Jakarta is to work on the issue with the Tangerang government.

Djoko also urged the government to upgrade the capacity of existing landfills, such as the one located in Cakung-Cilincing, North Jakarta.

“Currently it is only able to handle 300 tons of waste. The government should upgrade it to at least 700 to 1,000 tons this year,” he said.