Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia has officially signed the Presidential Regulation on Waste-to-Energy Power Plants (PLTSa) to accelerate efforts in managing urban waste.
“With this Presidential Regulation, we are promoting waste-to-energy development, including biomass. Once I sign the regulation, it will proceed to the next stage,” Lahadalia said in Jakarta on Tuesday (October 7).
He noted that the regulation underscores the government’s commitment to tackling city waste issues through waste-to-energy initiatives.
According to the minister, the government plans to build waste-to-energy plants in 33 locations across the country as part of its national waste management strategy.
The government is also consolidating three existing presidential regulations related to waste management to support the program’s implementation.
Meanwhile, Minister of Environment and Forestry Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said Jakarta requires at least five waste-to-energy plants to handle the city’s 8,000 tons of daily waste.
He added that the capital has been prioritized in the national waste management plan due to its exceptionally high waste volume.
Most of Jakarta’s waste is currently transported to the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Management Site (TPST), which has already exceeded its capacity.
However, Nurofiq said the large volume of waste also guarantees a steady supply of raw material for the continuous operation of PLTSa facilities.
Addressing public concerns about potential air pollution from waste-to-energy exhaust gases, Director General of New, Renewable Energy, and Energy Conservation at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Eniya Listiani Dewi, assured that such risks are well managed.
“There will be no environmental pollution because the Environmental Impact Analysis (Amdal), as stated in the Presidential Regulation, requires strict compliance with environmental standards,” Dewi said.
She explained that waste-to-energy plants are required to use scrubbers—effective control devices designed to reduce air pollutants from industrial exhaust gases.
“Once the waste is burned in the boiler, we use the scrubber, which can be sprayed with water or steam,” Dewi added.
