"Through education at all levels, we hope to create hubs for transforming waste management," he noted in a statement here on Wednesday.
The minister made the statement after witnessing, on Tuesday, the declaration of 789 schools in North Jakarta as environmentally-friendly schools under the Sekolah Adiwiyata program.
Regarding the declaration, the Ministry of Environment stated its readiness to strengthen the role of the education sector in encouraging a cultural shift toward better waste management and environmental conservation to achieve the target of 100 percent waste management by 2029.
Assistance and consultation support are available to help schools manage their waste effectively.
The minister reaffirmed his commitment to directly overseeing the waste management system in schools.
In this regard, all waste, both organic and inorganic, must be handled within the respective school premises using the principle of reduce, reuse, and recycle, rather than being sent to external facilities.
He specifically called on the North Jakarta City Government, which serves as a pilot for national waste management, to support these school-based waste management efforts.
According to data from the Ministry of Environment, as of February 2025, the number of schools participating in the Sekolah Adiwiyata program has reached two thousand.
Based on the National Waste Management Information System (SIPSN), Indonesia generated 34.2 million tons of waste in 2024, based on reports from 319 districts and cities. Of the total, the volume of unmanaged waste reached 18.1 million tons.
Translator: Prisca Triferna, Raka Adji
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
Copyright © ANTARA 2025
