Viral Garbage Dispersed for Days in Banten, the Ministry of PU Response is Like This

Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - The problem of a pile of garbage that went viral in South Tangerang (Tangerang) received attention from the Ministry of Public Works (PU).

Minister PU Dody Hanggodo said that the capacity of the Cipeucang Landfill (TPA) was no longer able to accommodate the daily waste load that had increased.

He explained that the volume of waste in South Tangerang has now exceeded 1,000 tons per day. Even though, the capacity of the Cipeucang landfill is already in a state of overcrowding.

"Tangsel, right, the garbage dump is full," Dody said in a media briefing at his office, Thursday, December 18.

According to Dody, the existing waste management scheme such as the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle Waste Processing Center (TPS3R) built by the Ministry of PU is no longer adequate.

Dody said that the facility was only designed for small-scale processing of less than 500 tons, so the officers were overwhelmed by the "explosion" of Tangerang waste.

As a long-term solution, Dody assessed that Banten needs more integrated waste processing, namely through waste processing technology into energy or waste to energy (WtE).

"So, it's so big (the volume of garbage) that it's burned. And it can't just be burned, right. So that it's effective, burned and made into (energy) electricity, so that it's effective and efficient," he said.

However, he admitted that the development of WtE was still hampered by the 'pull-back' regarding the amount of electricity subsidies provided by the government.

He stated that President Prabowo Subianto himself had actually strengthened the legal basis through Presidential Regulation Number 109 of 2025 concerning the Handling of Urban Waste into Renewable Energy.

However, he continued, the aspect of implementation in the field has not been fully realized.

Meanwhile, the Director General (Dirjen) of Cipta Karya of the Ministry of PU Dewi Chomistriana revealed the figures between production and the capacity of the Cipeucang landfill.

"The capacity of the Cipeucang landfill is only a maximum of 400 tons per day, even though the production is at least 800 tons to over 1,000 tons," he said.

Dewi said that the temporary closure of the Cipeucang landfill is currently being carried out because the South Tangerang City Government is preparing the construction of a new landfill and arranging the terrace to prevent garbage landslides.

To overcome this problem systematically, said Dewi, the South Tangerang City Government has now been proposed to enter the Phase III waste to energy (WtE) program.

"Currently it has entered the WtE phase III. It is still in the evaluation phase, including to determine the location of the project," he concluded.