A church in Semarang, Indonesia.

Solutions proposed for waste management in Semarang

The waste disposal system in Semarang (Indonesia) only captures 60 percent of the total waste generated for that community.

A five-year development plan – the Adipura Program – was established to better manage Semarang’s waste. To develop the Program, Semarang city officials worked with the French research institute, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (National Centre for Scientific Research).

Elements of the Program include:

• the recommendation to establish source separation;
• the recommendation to promote home and large-scale composting;
• the continuing use of scavengers and their socio-economic role; and
• the sale of recyclables in the marketplace.

Waste management approaches also reduce transportation-related emissions and overall energy savings by reusing items that would otherwise have to be manufactured. Also, a dependence on landfills can be reduced through waste prevention and recycling measures, resulting in the further elimination of greenhouse gas emissions. For more information on the importance of waste management, please visit www.iclei.org/ccp.

Semarang is one of 24 local governments in Southeast Asia that are currently Members of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. For more information on ICLEI and its activities in Southeast Asia, please visit www.iclei.org/sea.

Source: “Solid waste solutions for Semarang, Indonesia”, Waste Management & Research Review, CNRS, 2006.