Social capacity of waste and material management of Jakarta

Abstract

The Act regarding Waste Management was enacted in Indonesia in December 2008, requiring all citizens of Jakarta to segregate their waste for recycling. However, “social capacity” is required to achieve sound waste recycling. This refers to the people’s cooperation and participation in waste management, which is vitally important for establishing a 3R society. The purpose of this research is to determine the level of social capacity in Jakarta for becoming a 3R society, and to propose some effective policies to the government of Jakarta. This research was conducted via interviews with stakeholders of waste management in Jakarta, and a questionnaire survey with a sample of Jakarta citizens. In 2004, Professor Kimura of Nagoya University interviewed the stakeholders of the waste management of Jakarta. This investigation was followed-up in 2007 by us, and the results were compared. The results showed that the social capacity of Jakarta was improving. The following year, in 2008, a questionnaire survey with more than 300 Jakarta citizens was conducted, in order to gauge attitudes towards waste management policy, and the role of big business and individual citizens in waste management. The survey results indicate that the social capacity of Jakarta is gradually increasing. There is a clear hope expressed by the citizens of Jakarta that the city will address the issue of waste management seriously, through such policies as new rules for waste management, educating the people through a media campaign, and the collection of recyclable waste from the front of supermarkets, for example. We propose to examine the introduction of the ‘deposit system’ versus the ‘penalty system’, with citizens’ participatory conference.