The Gianyar Waste Recovery Project was started in 2004. Since 2008 it processes 50 tons of waste per day. Organic waste (85 %) is processed into compost. Suitable inorganic waste (5 %) is recycled and the residue (10 %) is deposited in a managed landfill. The percentage for recycled waste is so small, because scavengers remove most valuable recycles from waste before it reaches the Gianyar facility. The actual produced organic waste is therefore rather in the 70 to 80 % range. The lack of recyclable waste puts a heavy burden on the profitability of the TEMESI facility. Without the greenhouse gas credits received after the registration of the project under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol, the facility would not be sustainable.
Composting is not rocket science and operating a waste recovery facility requires only common sense. The crux in establishing sustainable waste recovery lies in the logistics and marketing.
Logistic
Unfavorable logistics lead to illegal dumping and the pollution in developing countries is proof of this. Dumping collected waste illegally is always a temptation whentime and money for diesel can be saved.Therefore, special emphasis must be given to logistics. Illegal dumping occurs when the waste transport takes too long. Therefore it is preferable to havean adequate number of decentralized facilities for a region instead only one like we have in TEMESI.The successful waste banks represent the ultimate form decentralization and probably the best one.More in the downloadable lessons learned document.
Marketing
The by far largest market is the rice production. However, rice farmers have access to chemical fertilizers that are subsidized between 50 and 92 %. Unsubsidized compost cannot compete in this unleveled playing field. Compost can only be sold in the much smaller market of hotels, private houses, landscaping or nurseries. More in the downloadable lessons learned document.
Waste Banks
A very promising approach to decentralized waste management is Waste Banks (Bank Sampah). They are mushrooming all over Indonesia, because they are easy and cheap to open. By the end of 2014 there will be about 10,000 Bank Sampah in Indonesia. They also offer many win-win situations without any apparent disadvantages.More details in the Section Waste banks of this website.
Read more about lessons learned by downloading below 10-page document:
