Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan stated after a coordination meeting in Jakarta on Friday that the regulation aims to streamline the licensing procedures for waste management, enabling the conversion of waste into electrical energy.
"Hence, with the simplification of those complicated procedures, the process becomes shorter. We hope that within the next five years, we can implement this in 30 provinces because our waste has already piled up," he revealed.
The regulations in question include Presidential Regulation No. 97 of 2017 on national policies and strategies for managing household and similar waste.
Additionally, the regulations include Presidential Regulation No. 35 of 2018 on accelerating the development of waste-processing installations to produce electrical energy based on environmentally friendly technology, as well as Presidential Regulation No. 83 of 2018 on marine waste management.
Minister Hasan explained that the simplification of waste regulations mirrors the approach used for distributing subsidized fertilizers.
Earlier, waste management for electrification required approvals from the local governments and several related ministries. However, through this regulatory streamlining, the State Electricity Company (PLN), as the buyer of the converted waste energy, will only need a permit from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM).
"Since PLN will be the one purchasing the output, while the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will give the permit. The permit from ESDM goes directly to PLN, and it is complete. It remains to be seen what the obligations of the local government will be,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Director General of New, Renewable Energy, and Energy Conservation at ESDM, Eniya Listiani Dewi, stated that Indonesia's total projected waste volume of 1.7 billion tons could potentially generate 2-3 gigawatts (GW) of electricity.
"This is estimated to reach 2-3 GW with that amount of waste," she remarked.
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Translator: Kuntum Khaira Riswan
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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