"This is an effort to improve public health and environmental quality in Tangerang city, to reduce waste accumulation at Rawa Kucing Landfill, and to get an added value in the form of electrical energy,” he informed in a statement received in Jakarta on Monday.
The implementation of PSEL in Tangerang city is a breakthrough in urban waste management, he opined.
Director of waste management at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Novrizal Tahar, lauded the steps taken by the Tangerang city government and all the people who have supported the PSEL’s socialization.
While efforts are being made to encourage a change in people’s behavior in terms of consumption and other socioeconomic activities, waste management solutions can no longer follow the conventional approach, he said.
There are many problems such as limited land and an increase in the volume of waste, which cannot be eliminated by simply piling up waste in landfills, he elaborated.
"We need to industrialize waste management with modern technologies and manage it professionally. Certainly, with the right technology (this can be achieved), and the institutional structure must also be good,” Novrizal said.
Waste emergencies in the 12 cities included in Presidential Regulation No. 35 of 2018 are like chronic diseases, he said adding, they have already reached stages 4–5 in severity.
Therefore, it is not enough just to change behavior, he said. Interventions, such as the use of various technologies at PSEL facilities, including in Tangerang city, are needed to accelerate the resolution of this problem, he observed.
According to Energy conversion expert from Bandung Institute of Technology, Pandji Prawisudha, the integration of several technologies in the development plan of the Tangerang city PSEL facility, namely sorting, biogas production, and RDF combustion facilities, has the potential to form a circular supply chain that will mutually reinforce the resolution of solid waste problems.
"Whether or not PSEL in Tangerang city is suitable, I dare to say that PSEL is a suitable solution for Indonesia, and I hope that the PSEL that will be built in Tangerang city will reduce the pile of garbage at the Rawa Kucing Landfill, which has not been utilized so far,” he remarked.
Environmental activist from the Gawe Rukun Kunciran Indah Garbage Bank Community, Tukidi, expressed support for the government's program to process waste at PSEL facilities.
This is because the amount of waste that arrives at Rawa Kucing is very unsettling since it has exceeded 1,500 tons per day, he said. If the waste is not processed, it will be only a matter of time before the Rawa Kucing landfill stops receiving waste, he added.
"The faster the implementation, the better it is; there is no other way but to agree with the program,” Tukidi said.
President director of Oligo Infrastructure Indonesia, Cynthia Hendrayani, also praised ministries and institutions at the central government level and the Tangerang city government officials who have successfully raised awareness on the problem of waste and the PSEL. The discussion evoked positive responses from stakeholders, she noted.
In a poll conducted during the awareness drive, 93 percent of the respondents supported the development of the Tangerang city PSEL, while the remaining 7 percent took a neutral stand, she informed. There were no participants who did not support the Tangerang city PSEL, she said. Moreover, a member of the DPRD, Warta Supriyatna, reaffirmed the council's support for this activity, she added.
“The strong public support is, of course, very encouraging, and it brings hope of a smooth development of the PSEL's physical infrastructure, which will begin with the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Tangerang city government and Oligo soon,” she said.
“For the socialization that has taken place, we have received inputs, aspirations, and expectations from stakeholders. In particular, Oligo expressed appreciation to the Tangerang city government for successfully bringing the cooperation to this stage,” Hendrayani added.
Recently, the Tangerang city government organized an online open public outreach to solicit inputs from cross-stakeholder, which included the central government (Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Public Work & Public Housing, Ministry of Environment and Forestry), Banten province government, Tangerang city head of Local Government Agencies (OPD), academics, experts, environmental activists, and Tangerang city’s community leaders.
This activity was attended by nearly 300 participants, which proved the public's enthusiasm for the plan to build the PSEL facility in Tangerang city, Hendrayani said.
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Reporter: Azis Kurmala
Editor: Sri Haryati
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