Successful Waste Management, Banyumas Becomes a Reference for Bandung City

JAKARTA - The success of Banyumas Regency, Central Java, in managing waste has become a reference for a number of regions in Indonesia. With the achievement of waste processing which reaches around 78 percent of the total daily collection, Banyumas is considered capable of presenting an effective and integrated management system, from upstream to downstream.

The model is now being studied by the Bandung City Government as an effort to improve urban waste management.

The Mayor of Bandung Muhammad Farhan said the Bandung City Government, West Java, continues to learn and improve in waste management by emulating areas that are considered successful, one of which is Banyumas Regency.

This was conveyed by Farhan when giving a speech at the Launch of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) and Banyumas Regency Recycling Center at the Integrated Waste Processing Site (TPST) Sokaraja Kulon, Sokaraja District, Banyumas, Tuesday. According to him, the waste problem cannot be solved with a single solution because the characteristics and variables of waste are very diverse.

Therefore, a comprehensive and sustainable approach from upstream to downstream is needed, accompanied by a continuous learning process.

"There is no term one fix for all in waste management. Waste is the most variable, so its handling must be specific," he said at an event attended by Deputy Minister of Environment (Wamen LH) Diaz Faisal Malik Hendropriyono as quoted by ANTARA.

Farhan gave an example of waste from traditional foods such as lemper which produces various types of waste at once. In one product, there are food waste, organic waste from banana leaves, as well as plastic and paper packaging, which each require different handling methods.

He revealed that Bandung City currently produces more than 1,500 tons of waste every day. However, based on data from the Ministry of Environment and Energy, only about 22 percent of waste has been processed, a figure that is still far from the ideal target for sustainable management.

To accelerate repairs, the Bandung City Government launched the Gaslah program on January 26, 2026, namely the placement of one sorting and waste management officer in each RW.

The officer, said Farhan, is tasked with visiting residents' homes to ensure that waste sorting is carried out from the source. "Organic must be completed at the village level, while inorganic is further processed. This is part of building a waste management ecosystem," he said.

Apart from technological support, Farhan emphasized that integrity in governance is the key to the success of waste management. He assessed that behind the large economic potential of the sampling sector, there is also a risk of deviation that must be anticipated together.

On that occasion, he also expressed his appreciation to the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Public Works, and the Presidential Staff Office for supporting the strengthening of waste processing facilities, including the procurement of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) technology.

According to Farhan, Banyumas Regency is worthy of being a national benchmark because it is able to manage about 78 percent of the waste produced every day.

After directly reviewing waste management at TPST Sokaraja Kulon, Farhan said the main lesson learned by the Bandung City Government from Banyumas was not solely based on the volume of waste processed, but on the ratio of its management.

He said that Banyumas has been able to process and destroy around 78 percent of the total daily waste generation, while Bandung City is still in the range of 22 percent.

"This means that we still have problems and have to learn a lot. We have received a very clear letter from the Ministry of Environment containing benchmarks and quantitative parameters for waste management that we must pursue," he said.

He emphasized that waste management in the region must be in line with the policies of the central government and the provincial government, as directed by President Prabowo Subianto in a briefing in Bogor on Monday (2/2).

However, Farhan admitted that in accordance with the provisions of the law, the local government still holds the main authority and responsibility in waste management. Therefore, innovation in technology and waste management must continue.

He hopes that the visit of seven sub-district heads and the Bandung City Environment Service to Banyumas can be a means of learning effective and efficient urban waste management. Thus, the achievement of waste processing in the City of Bandung is expected to increase gradually to approach 80 percent.

However, Farhan emphasized that the application of waste processing technology cannot be generalized. According to him, this depends very much on the volume of dumping, type of waste, community culture, and the conditions of each region, including the limitations of the City of Bandung which does not yet have a final disposal site and faces its own challenges in the transportation system.