Abstract

Although Indonesia has abundant resources toproduce renewable energy (RE) from municipal solid waste(MSW), the implementation of waste to energy (WtE) conceptremains low due to several factors. Approximately, 200,000 tonsof MSW per day are generated in Indonesia. Improper wastemanagement system in Indonesia is not only causingenvironmental problems but also inhibiting to get benefits fromRE production. This study which was funded by JapanInternational Cooperation Agency (JICA) was conducted toobtain a comparative description of WtE implementationbetween Japan and Indonesia as well as to formulate possiblestrategies for improving WtE implementation in Indonesia.Direct observations and a series of qualitative depth interviewswith stakeholders were conducted both in Japan and Indonesia.This study revealed that the two countries have a differentapproach of WtE implementation. The implementation of WtEin Japan mostly relies on thermal treatment as a form ofintermediate treatment of MSW to reduce the amount of wastesent to landfill as well as to increase the life span of landfill. InIndonesia, WtE implementation mostly uses the biologicaltreatment (anaerobic digestion) as a part of final treatment ofMSW in landfill. Conducting integrated waste and energymanagement system is one of best practices from Japan that canbe learned and applied in Indonesia to improve theimplementation of WtE.