Indonesia Waste Burning: Pilot Projects Seek Solutions | Mongabay

Indonesia Grapples with Widespread Household Waste Burning Despite Legal Prohibition

February 12, 2026 – More than half of Indonesian households continue to burn their trash, a practice prohibited under the country’s 2008 Waste Management Law, due to challenges with collecting bulky and inorganic waste and safety concerns related to illegal dumping in densely populated areas.

The practice releases harmful pollutants, including fine particles and black carbon, which pose significant health risks. According to experts, these pollutants penetrate deep into the body, contributing to respiratory and cardiovascular disease, organ damage, and conditions like anemia. Black carbon is also a potent climate pollutant, meaning reducing household waste burning could yield rapid benefits for both air quality and efforts to mitigate global warming.

Erwinsyah, head of a neighborhood unit (RT) in Bogor, south of Jakarta, exemplifies the dilemma faced by many community leaders. He recounted instances of residents discarding large items like mattresses and furniture by the roadside. Leaving these items unattended creates hazards for pedestrians, particularly children walking to school. “The mattresses are already dirty, smelly, full of rat droppings,” Erwinsyah reportedly told Mongabay. “So they just get placed by the roadside. But that’s an area where people pass by, children go to school.”

To avoid accidents and potential blame, Erwinsyah sometimes resorts to burning the waste in an empty field, carefully monitoring the flames. This is not an isolated incident. open waste burning remains a widespread issue across Indonesia.

Several factors contribute to the persistence of this practice, including cultural norms, a lack of adequate waste management infrastructure, limited enforcement of existing regulations, and financial constraints. In response, pilot projects are emerging that aim to address these challenges through a combination of community engagement, improved waste collection systems, and real-time pollution monitoring.

Elsewhere in Indonesia, innovative approaches to waste management are also being explored. Suyono, a former migrant worker and chauffeur in the Sleman region near Yogyakarta, has become a pioneer in biogas production. After working for Yayasan Rumah Energi, a foundation focused on household renewable energy projects, he began collecting goat and quail droppings to produce biogas for his household.

Suyono’s initial efforts were met with skepticism from neighbors, but his success has inspired others in the village to adopt the practice. Biogas is produced through anaerobic digestion, where microorganisms break down organic waste in an oxygen-free environment, creating methane and other gases that can be used as a cleaner alternative to propane, and butane. The International Energy Agency’s net zero roadmap calls for a quadrupling of biogas production by 2050.

These initiatives, while localized, represent a growing recognition of the need for sustainable waste management solutions in Indonesia. Addressing the issue requires a multifaceted approach that tackles both the practical challenges of waste collection and disposal, and the underlying cultural and economic factors that contribute to the widespread practice of burning household trash.