Minister urges DPRD speakers to drive waste management transformation

  Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq has called on Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) chairs to drive a transformation in environmental management, particularly in waste management.

In a statement issued on Monday, he emphasized that DPRDs play a crucial role in program implementation through policy support and budget allocation.

He highlighted the councils’ strategic position in ensuring program sustainability by strengthening regulations and allocating sufficient and well-targeted budgets for waste management.

“The success of waste management is largely determined by local policy and budgetary support, alongside active community participation,” he said during a briefing for DPRD chairs in Magelang, Central Java

Nurofiq stressed that environmental development is no longer treated as a secondary issue but as a core foundation of national development.

In line with the national economic growth target of 8 percent, the environmental sector is being positioned as a new economic driver through the development of the circular economy, carbon trading, green investment, and eco-friendly infrastructure.

In waste management, the government is targeting a management rate of 63.41 percent by 2026, with a goal of reaching 100 percent by 2029.

With national waste generation reaching 51.8 million tons annually, a community-based approach has become the primary strategy to reduce the burden on landfills while improving overall management quality.

The government is also pushing for a complete ban on open dumping by 2026, along with optimizing waste processing facilities as part of an integrated upstream-to-downstream system.

To strengthen waste management, the government is promoting waste sorting at the household level, community-based waste management, optimization of landfills through reduce-reuse-recycle practices, and the enhancement of Integrated Waste Management Sites.

Independent organic waste processing through composting and the reuse of inorganic waste are also key components of the system.

In addition, the government is intensifying public education efforts while strengthening the role of communities and neighborhoods as drivers of behavioral change.

This approach is expected to foster a more responsible and sustainable waste management culture.