Rethinking Bantargebang: Strategy for Transforming Asia's Largest Landfill into a Model for Circular Economy and Environmental Resilience

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Executive Summary

Standing at the edge of Bantargebang landfill in Bekasi, one confronts the stark reality of urban Indonesia's consumption patterns. This sprawling waste repository, recognized as Southeast Asia's largest landfill, receives approximately 7,000 to 7,800 tons of waste daily from Jakarta's metropolitan area.⁴ The accumulated waste has formed mountains reaching 50 meters in height, equivalent to 16-story buildings, across a site spanning over 110 hectares.⁸ With total accumulated waste estimated at 45 million tons and the facility approaching its capacity limits, Bantargebang represents both a critical environmental challenge and a remarkable opportunity for pioneering integrated waste management solutions.

The transformation of Bantargebang extends beyond technical waste disposal to encompass fundamental questions of environmental justice, circular economy principles, and sustainable urban development. Research demonstrates that the facility's environmental impacts reach far beyond its physical boundaries, affecting air quality, water resources, and community health across multiple municipalities in West Java.³ Moreover, the social ecosystem surrounding Bantargebang, where thousands of informal waste pickers navigate hazardous conditions to extract recyclable materials, creates an intricate economy requiring careful consideration in any transformation strategy. Addressing these multifaceted challenges demands integrated approaches combining advanced technologies, community development, ecosystem restoration, and innovative financing within comprehensive frameworks for environmental and social transformation.

The Scale and Complexity of Bantargebang's Challenge

Bantargebang landfill began operations in 1989 under an agreement between Jakarta and neighboring Bekasi city, with Jakarta providing financial compensation for hosting the facility.⁸ What started as a waste disposal site in an area of housing and rice fields has grown into one of Asia's most significant landfills, with waste mountains visible from space. The landfill's physical presence has transformed the local landscape dramatically, creating what Woima Corporation describes as a hemisphere with a 300-meter radius containing approximately 180,000 terajoules of energy potential, equivalent to over seven million tons of coal.⁴

The daily operations at Bantargebang reveal the enormous scale of Jakarta's waste generation. Approximately 1,200 trucks transport waste to the site each day, depositing between 7,000 and 7,800 tons of municipal solid waste.⁹ This continuous influx of waste contributes to what researchers identify as Jakarta's "ticking time bomb" of waste management crisis. The environmental implications extend across multiple dimensions, with methane emissions from decomposing organic matter contributing significantly to Indonesia's greenhouse gas footprint, while leachate contamination threatens groundwater resources including the critical Citarum River watershed that serves millions of residents.

The complexity of Bantargebang's challenges deepens when examining the social ecosystem that has evolved around the landfill. Research by Dr. Shunsuke Sasaki from Waseda University documents how the informal recycling network at Bantargebang contributes significantly to waste diversion, with waste workers collecting and sorting materials despite hazardous conditions.¹⁶ These workers navigate unstable waste piles, toxic fumes, and heavy machinery to extract valuable materials, averaging 120 kilograms of recyclables daily. The dual nature of Bantargebang as both environmental hazard and economic lifeline for thousands of families creates profound tensions that any transformation strategy must address through just transition principles ensuring alternative livelihoods for affected communities.

Current Technological Interventions and Performance

The Indonesian government has initiated several technological interventions aimed at addressing Bantargebang's waste crisis, with the most prominent being the development of waste-to-energy facilities and refuse-derived fuel production. In March 2019, Indonesia inaugurated its first waste-to-energy pilot plant at Bantargebang, dubbed the "Merah Putih" (Red-White) facility.¹¹ This pioneering facility employs thermal technology with reciprocating grate incineration, designed to operate 24 hours daily for 250-300 days per year, processing up to 100 tons of waste daily and generating approximately 700 kilowatts of electricity.

Operational data from 2020 reveals both the potential and limitations of the initial waste-to-energy approach. The Merah Putih plant operated for 221 days, processed 9,879 tons of waste, and generated 783.63 megawatt-hours of electricity, producing approximately 110.59 kilowatt-hours per ton of waste burned.¹³ The facility also produced fly ash and bottom ash (FABA) totaling 1,918 tons, which was subsequently utilized to manufacture paving blocks for facility infrastructure. Research examining the plant's performance indicates it achieves waste mass reduction of approximately 96.5%, with byproducts aligning with government standards for emissions and ash residue.¹⁵

Despite these technological advances, the scale of intervention remains modest relative to the daily waste influx. The pilot waste-to-energy facility processes only 100 tons daily compared to the 7,000+ tons arriving at Bantargebang each day, highlighting the necessity for scaled implementation and complementary technologies. Industry analysis emphasizes that successful waste-to-energy systems require comprehensive pre-processing and sorting infrastructure to optimize combustion efficiency and minimize environmental impacts, particularly given Indonesian municipal waste streams' high organic content and seasonal variations in composition.

Refuse-Derived Fuel Development and Implementation

The development of refuse-derived fuel facilities represents a significant evolution in Indonesia's waste management strategy. In February 2022, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan inaugurated construction of a landfill mining and RDF facility at Bantargebang, targeting processing of 2,000 tons daily of waste into 750 tons of alternative fuel.¹⁹ This project aimed to process both six-year-old landfilled waste and fresh incoming waste, creating refuse-derived fuel as an environmentally friendly alternative to coal for industrial users.

The most ambitious RDF development emerged with PT Wijaya Karya's construction of the Rorotan RDF Plant in North Jakarta. Beginning construction in March 2024, this facility was designed with a processing capacity of 2,500 tons of waste per day, making it the world's largest RDF plant by capacity, surpassing Tel Aviv's 1,500 tons-per-day facility.¹² The Rorotan plant employs advanced mechanical-biological treatment including primary and secondary shredders, dynamic screens, and separation technologies to produce 875 tons daily of RDF output, potentially reducing Bantargebang's incoming waste by 30 percent. The facility was designed to serve 16 sub-districts across Jakarta, addressing the metropolitan area's waste crisis through downstream processing before landfill disposal.

However, implementation of the Rorotan RDF plant encountered significant challenges. In February 2025, during test operations, the facility emitted thick, foul-smelling smoke that allegedly caused respiratory infections among children in surrounding areas.²⁴ The Jakarta Environmental Agency temporarily shut down the plant to allow installation of deodorizers and filters, with plans to sterilize the facility's bunker and install air quality monitoring equipment in homes within a 4-5 kilometer radius. These operational difficulties highlight the technical complexities and community health considerations inherent in large-scale waste processing facilities, particularly in densely populated urban areas where environmental justice concerns intersect with waste management imperatives.

Environmental and Public Health Impacts

Research examining Bantargebang's health impacts reveals systematic environmental disparities affecting surrounding communities. Air quality monitoring documents elevated concentrations of particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, and bioaerosols contributing to respiratory ailments among residents.³ The landfill generates methane-rich leachate that threatens drinking water sources in surrounding villages, while spontaneous fires within the waste heap emit toxic fumes into the atmosphere. Communities surrounding Bantargebang exhibit higher rates of respiratory disease, gastrointestinal illness, and vector-borne infections compared to control populations, indicating systematic environmental health disparities requiring immediate intervention.

The informal economy surrounding waste picking exposes thousands of workers to direct contact with hazardous materials, infectious agents, and physical dangers from unstable waste piles and heavy machinery operations. Workers at Bantargebang face multiple occupational hazards including heat stress in tropical conditions, respiratory exposure to dust and bioaerosols, contact with potentially hazardous substances accumulated over decades, and risks from unstable terrain and landslides. Historical incidents underscore these dangers, with a 2006 landslide killing three scavengers and injuring several others.⁴ Despite these hazards, economic necessity drives continued participation in waste picking, creating profound tensions between environmental protection and livelihood security that transformation strategies must address through comprehensive worker transition programs.

Landfill Mining and Material Recovery Potential

Landfill mining represents a promising approach for addressing Bantargebang's accumulated waste while extending operational capacity. This process involves systematic excavation and processing of legacy waste using screening and separation technologies to extract valuable materials including metals, plastics, and combustible fractions that retain commercial value despite years of burial.⁶ Preliminary assessments suggest that approximately 40 percent of excavated material can be recovered for beneficial use, with recovered materials serving as compost, daily landfill cover, refuse-derived fuel, or recyclable commodities. The remainder can provide engineered soil for site restoration activities, creating multiple value streams from what was previously considered permanent waste.

Woima Corporation's analysis of Bantargebang's landfill mining potential emphasizes the enormous energy content contained within the accumulated waste. Their assessment indicates that a single waste-to-energy boiler island processing 40,000 to 50,000 tons annually could free approximately one hectare of land per year, with multiple units integrated to create larger power generation facilities.⁴ Following waste processing, separated soil and clean bottom ash from incineration can landscape the former landfill area, enabling potential redevelopment of rehabilitated land. However, landfill mining operations face significant technical and logistical challenges, particularly regarding odor control, dust management, and worker safety in environments containing potentially hazardous substances accumulated over decades of uncontrolled disposal.

Policy Framework and Stakeholder Acceptance

Indonesia's waste-to-energy policy framework emerged through Presidential Regulation No. 35 of 2018 concerning the Acceleration of Development of Waste-Based Power Plants using Environmentally Friendly Technology. This regulation targets construction of waste management installations in twelve major Indonesian cities, with specific provisions for electricity purchase by the state utility company PLN.²² For facilities with capacity of 20 MW or less, PLN purchases electricity at USD 13.35 per kilowatt-hour, while larger facilities receive calculated rates based on capacity. This policy framework provides economic incentives for private sector participation in waste-to-energy development while ensuring renewable energy integration into Indonesia's power grid.

Research examining stakeholder acceptance of waste-to-energy technology at Bantargebang reveals complex patterns of support and concern. Studies indicate that while government officials and waste management professionals generally support technological interventions, surrounding communities express reservations about potential health and environmental impacts.⁴ Community concerns focus on air quality impacts, noise pollution, traffic from waste transport, and potential property value effects. The operational difficulties experienced at the Rorotan RDF plant in 2025 underscore the importance of community engagement and environmental safeguards in waste management facility implementation. Successful transformation strategies require extensive stakeholder consultation, transparent environmental monitoring, and grievance mechanisms that address community concerns while maintaining project viability.

Circular Economy Innovation and Business Integration

Recent research examines circular economy model innovation at Bantargebang, identifying opportunities for integrating waste management with broader industrial ecosystems.⁵ The circular economy approach emphasizes closing material loops, maximizing resource efficiency, and creating economic value from waste streams through innovative business models. At Bantargebang, this encompasses development of material recovery facilities extracting recyclables from mixed waste, RDF production providing alternative fuels for industrial users, compost production from organic waste fractions, and energy generation from waste combustion and landfill gas capture. Integration of these activities within comprehensive facility design creates synergies maximizing resource recovery while minimizing environmental impact.

The informal recycling network at Bantargebang demonstrates circular economy principles operating at grassroots level, with waste pickers recovering approximately 9.3 percent of non-organic waste through manual sorting and collection.¹⁶ Recovered materials flow through middlemen to recycling facilities, with more than ten plastic recycling operations within the Bantargebang area processing low-value soft plastics that comprise over 80 percent of total collected recyclables. One facility owned by PT Dunia Makmur Bersama, established in 2008, processes up to 20 tons of plastic bags daily, washing and melting them into HDPE pellets for manufacturing use. Transformation strategies should integrate and formalize these existing circular economy activities while improving working conditions and environmental standards, rather than displacing established informal systems that provide livelihoods for thousands of families.

Financing Mechanisms and Investment Requirements

Comprehensive transformation of Bantargebang requires substantial capital investment across multiple infrastructure components including waste-to-energy facilities, material recovery systems, landfill mining equipment, leachate treatment infrastructure, and ecosystem restoration activities. The Asian Development Bank's Water Financing Partnership Facility documents approaches relevant for waste management infrastructure, emphasizing sustainable financing mechanisms, risk mitigation strategies, and partnership models mobilizing private capital alongside public investment.²³ Blended finance combining concessional development finance with commercial investment can optimize capital costs while ensuring project viability and public benefit delivery.

Economic analysis demonstrates that integrated waste management facilities generate diversified revenue streams reducing market risk while providing investment returns. Revenue sources include electricity sales from waste-to-energy operations, recovered material markets for recyclables and RDF products, carbon credit generation from methane capture and fossil fuel displacement, avoided disposal costs from waste diversion, and potential ecotourism and education programs at restored areas. Public-private partnership structures allocating risks appropriately between public and private partners prove essential for mobilizing required capital while protecting public interests. Performance-based contracting linking compensation to environmental outcomes, processing targets, and community benefit delivery can align private sector incentives with public policy objectives throughout facility lifecycle.

Regional and Global Context

Bantargebang's challenges reflect broader patterns affecting rapidly urbanizing regions across Southeast Asia and the developing world. Similar mega-landfills exist throughout the region, including Tondo in Metro Manila and Da Phuoc in Ho Chi Minh City, each facing comparable pressures from population growth, consumption increases, and inadequate waste infrastructure.¹⁸ These landfills serve as testament to fundamental flaws in economic growth models prioritizing consumption without adequate consideration of waste management requirements and environmental carrying capacity. Addressing mega-landfill challenges requires not only technological solutions but fundamental rethinking of production and consumption patterns, extended producer responsibility, and circular economy principles embedded within economic planning.

International examples provide valuable insights for Bantargebang's transformation. Singapore's Semakau Island demonstrates how comprehensive waste management combining mainland incineration with engineered landfill design can handle waste sustainably, with the 3.5-square-kilometer island accommodating ash from 5.6 million residents while maintaining environmental standards preventing odor and pollution.⁸ Copenhagen's Amager Bakke waste-to-energy plant processes 450,000 tons annually while incorporating community facilities including a ski slope and hiking trail, demonstrating how waste infrastructure can integrate with urban landscapes. These international precedents illustrate possibilities for transforming waste management from hidden environmental burden to visible component of sustainable urban infrastructure, though adaptation to Indonesian contexts requires consideration of local economic conditions, social structures, and institutional capacities.

Strategic Priorities for Transformation

Transforming Bantargebang requires comprehensive strategies addressing immediate operational challenges while building foundations for long-term sustainability. Priority actions encompass scaling technological interventions to match waste generation levels, developing markets for recovered materials and RDF products, implementing comprehensive environmental monitoring and community health protection measures, creating alternative livelihood programs supporting just transition for informal waste workers, and advancing ecosystem restoration across degraded areas. These priorities must proceed simultaneously rather than sequentially, recognizing interdependencies between technical, social, and environmental dimensions of transformation.

Implementation approaches must recognize that transformation represents a multi-decade undertaking requiring sustained commitment, adequate resources, and adaptive management responding to experience and changing conditions. Phased strategies maintaining operational continuity while progressively implementing advanced technologies prove essential for avoiding disruption to essential waste services. Successful transformation depends on government leadership establishing clear policy frameworks and providing enabling infrastructure, private sector participation bringing technological expertise and capital investment, community engagement ensuring local benefits and environmental protection, and civil society oversight maintaining accountability and transparency. The lessons learned from Bantargebang's transformation will inevitably influence waste management strategies across Indonesia and beyond, potentially establishing new standards for addressing urban waste challenges in developing country contexts.

Ecosystem Restoration and Future Land Use

Long-term transformation of Bantargebang necessarily encompasses ecosystem restoration transforming degraded landfill areas into productive landscapes providing environmental services and community benefits. Despite decades of waste accumulation, ecological assessments reveal potential for rehabilitation through soil amendment, vegetation establishment, and hydrological restoration.⁶ The presence of naturally occurring plant species adapted to disturbed environments suggests opportunities for assisted natural regeneration accelerating ecosystem recovery processes. Integrated landscape restoration combining waste management infrastructure with green corridors, wetland construction, and agroforestry systems can create multifunctional landscapes serving waste processing and ecological restoration objectives simultaneously.

Ecosystem restoration efforts generate additional benefits beyond environmental recovery. Carbon sequestration in restored vegetation and soils can generate carbon credits providing revenue streams supporting long-term site management. Biodiversity conservation creating habitat for native species contributes to regional ecological connectivity. Education and ecotourism programs at restored areas can demonstrate successful environmental rehabilitation while generating ongoing income. However, restoration success depends critically on controlling contamination sources, establishing appropriate soil chemistry through remediation, and ensuring adequate water management supporting vegetation establishment. The extended timescales required for ecosystem recovery, often spanning decades for forest establishment and soil development, necessitate long-term institutional commitment and financing mechanisms extending beyond typical project cycles.

Conclusions and Path Forward

The transformation of Bantargebang from environmental liability to regenerative asset represents one of Indonesia's most significant environmental challenges and opportunities. With Jakarta authorities acknowledging exhaustion of available land space for waste disposal, the urgency of implementing comprehensive solutions has never been more apparent. Yet this crisis creates opportunities for pioneering integrated approaches combining technological innovation, circular economy principles, social equity, and ecosystem restoration within frameworks demonstrating how even the most daunting environmental challenges can become catalysts for transformative change.

Success requires maintaining commitment to integrated strategies balancing multiple objectives simultaneously. Technological solutions must proceed alongside social programs protecting worker livelihoods through just transition. Environmental restoration must integrate with ongoing waste management operations. Short-term crisis response must align with long-term sustainability planning. Community health protection must accompany facility development. These parallel tracks require sophisticated coordination, adequate resources, and sustained political commitment across multiple electoral cycles and administrative changes.

The lessons learned from Bantargebang's transformation will inevitably influence waste management strategies across Southeast Asia and beyond, potentially establishing new standards for urban waste governance in an era of climate change and resource scarcity. As cities worldwide grapple with mounting waste challenges and environmental degradation, Bantargebang's evolution could demonstrate that comprehensive planning, adequate resources, and genuine commitment to transformative change can convert the mountains of waste into foundations for building more resilient, equitable, and environmentally sustainable urban futures. The path forward demands bold vision, careful implementation, and unwavering dedication to creating solutions that serve both present communities and future generations.