Indonesia

Brief History of Consumption and Waste

The basis of the Indonesian economy was, historically, small-scale agriculture—mostly subsistence production for family consumption. Nonfood items were also largely produced from local natural materials, including bamboo, timber, and banana leaves. Anything useful was reused, while surplus, unused, or abandoned materials were simply left wherever they fell. Waste management consisted of periodic sweeping of organic material into piles out of the way to be eaten by chickens, dogs, and pigs, or to simply decompose. Quantities sufficient to cause inconvenience or ritual pollution were burned. Rubbish in the sense that it is known in industrial economies did not exist. Neither did the notion of “waste management.”

Industrial processing began during the colonial period, largely of agricultural products for export. European-manufactured goods were also introduced in small quantities. In the latter part of the 20th century, local industrial production increased, and more manufactured goods were imported. Bicycles were replaced by motorcycles and then cars. Radios, then televisions, and computers became commonplace. Prepackaged foods and drinks replaced ones wrapped in banana leaves or served in glasses. With urbanization came dependence on consumer goods. Economic growth created new prosperity and a middle class with tastes and appetites for international levels and styles of consumption. The mass media fed these appetites, and spread to all levels of society and parts of the country. All this has led to new kinds and ever-growing quantities of waste. Traditional ideas and practices provided little precedent for dealing with the changing reality.

Waste Statistics

Quantification of waste is never easy and statistics on Indonesia are notoriously unreliable, but the following figures give some indication of the scale of the issues and patterns of growth:

• National population: 220–240 million
• Proportion served by WM Authority (2006): 56 percent
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• Per capita production of SW (1989): 0.4–0.76 kg/day; (2006): 1.12 kg/day
• National production of SW (daily): 20,000–186,366 tons
• National SW production (annual) 22 million tons (2007), 38.5 million tons (2006), 106 million tons (2010)
• Increase in SW production between 1971 and 2000: tenfold
• Projected national annual production of domestic SW (2020): 53.7 million tons
• Proportion of household waste (2006): 43 percent
• Proportion of waste collected and managed: 40–69 percent
• Proportion of waste recycled: <2 percent
• Proportion incinerated: 35.49 percent
• Proportion into landfills: 7.54 percent
• Per capita daily generation of urban waste: (2001) 0.8 kg, (Jakarta, 2000) 0.65 kg, (Jakarta 2000) 1–2 kg/day
• Daily production of urban waste: 55,000 tons
• Proportion of urban waste collected (Jakarta): <66 percent
• Increase or urban domestic waste (annual): 2–4 percent
• Increase of urban waste (daily, Jakarta): (1985) < 20,000 cu m;(1991) 23,708 cu m; (2001) > 25,600 cu m
• Amount of waste arriving at final disposal sites: 13.6 million tons
• Proportion of organic material: (1989) 87 percent, (2006) 62 percent
• Proportion of plastic: (1989) 3 percent, (2006) 14 percent
• Proportion of toxic and hazardous materials: <10 percent
• Number of people employed by WM authorities: 73,500
• Number of scavengers at official landfill sites: (2006) 14,538
• Number of scavengers in Jakarta: (1995) 10,000–40,000

These figures support several generalizations: per capita production is not high; total production is large; both are growing fast; the waste is relatively high in organic matter but this is decreasing; the most rapid increase is in plastic waste; and, finally, waste management policy, practice, and capacity lag far behind waste production.

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