Municipal Solid Waste Knowledge Platform

Waste management has been one of the major issues in many cities, especially in developing countries. Municipal solid waste landfills are the third-largest source of global anthropogenic methane emissions. Meanwhile, open burning of garbage and incomplete combustion of fossil fuels from waste trucks emit black carbon. These substances have a relatively short lifetime in the atmosphere but have a significant influence on warming the near-term climate, and are called Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs). The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) is one of the global efforts committed to improving air quality and protecting the climate by reducing SLCPs across different sectors.

With the support from CCAC’s Municipal Solid Waste Initiative, a rapid assessment was conducted from 2017 to 2018 to understand the status, challenges, and opportunities of waste management in Medan City in the North Sumatra Province of Indonesia. A Work Plan has been prepared considering the findings of the rapid assessment and organization of multistakeholder consultations with relevant local agencies and key stakeholders to improve waste management and reduce SLCPs in Medan City on a mid-to-long-term basis.

This Work Plan provides comprehensive and up-to-date analysis on the status, challenges and opportunities of waste management in Medan City, including relevant regulations and policies, administrative structure, waste management cost, waste quality and quantity, waste collection, 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), and final disposal. Based on such findings and the results of a series of consultation workshops held with relevant
stakeholders, a set of new targets was suggested. They were made consistent with the national target set force by Presidential Regulation No. 97/2017 on National Policy and Strategy on Management of Household Waste and Waste Similar to Household Waste to achieve 30% waste reduction and 70% waste treatment by 2025. In order to achieve those targets, the Work Plan suggests focusing on six specific areas, and detailed activities were proposed under each strategic goal. The Work Plan also shows strategies and a path toward achieving the targets as well as providing key performance indicators to monitor and evaluate the progress of implementation. 

It was estimated that, if Medan City continues the current waste management scheme (business-as-usual or BAU scenario), the net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions including SLCPs could reach up to 1,200 kg CO2-eq/ton. However, if Medan City can achieve 100% waste collection and 10% reduction of waste, GHG emissions could be reduced by 29% compared to BAU scenario. If it can achieve a further 30% reduction in waste, GHG emissions could be 41% less compared to the BAU scenario. In addition, the Work Plan also identified that various co-benefits, such as improved sanitation, a cleaner, and more liveable city, waste management cost reduction, efficient use of resources, raised public awareness, etc., can be achieved through the application of proposed strategic actions. 

However, success depends on the effective implementation of the Work Plan. For this, it is suggested that Medan City should take this Work Plan forward by applying it as the Regional Policy and Strategy (Jakstrada) on Waste Management and use it as a tool to involve a wide range of stakeholders, including public, private and civil society, to work together in improving waste management. In the long run, it is hoped that Medan City will become a leading clean and green city representing not just the cities and regencies in North Sumatra Province, but as the key megacity in Indonesia.