The city of Surabaya located in Jawa Timur province is one of the largest economic centers in Indonesia due to its proximity to the port.

The city faced a waste crisis in 2001 when the sole landfill site Keputih, serving around 3 million inhabitants was closed, leading to 155 temporary disposal sites around the city.

The waste generated in Surabaya peaked in 2001 at around 1,512 tonnes of waste per day with approximately 1,281 being landfilled. Organic waste held the higher fraction in the waste composition at 57% and the non-organics such as paper (14%), plastic (16%), and others (11.6%) comprised the rest. It was noticed that a large portion of the total waste generation could be traced back to residential areas. 

Understanding the fact that residential waste comprises a higher fraction in the city, the Surabaya municipality developed a community-based waste management program called the ‘Clean and Green initiative’ in 2004.

This was in partnership with Kitakyushu International Techno-cooperative Association (KITA) from Kitakyushu City overseeing the technical cooperation, and Pusdakota, which is a local NGO operating in Surabaya City.

The program involved training the residents in the principles of 3Rs, reduce, reuse and recycle. With assistance from KITA, a composting facility was set up and the participants in the community program were provided with a low-cost composting basket, thus establishing household composting activities.

In 2005, the government further popularized the initiative through several competitions which helped in scaling the program. The competitions encompassed several aspects such as waste management, recycling, cleanliness, greenery, and others.

The program yielded positive results by significantly reducing the quantity disposed of in landfills by 18.6% (1480 tons) in 2007 when compared to the pre-program years’ quantity of 2610 tons.

By 2007, approximately 2,774 neighborhood associations have enrolled in the program. At least 15 small-scale recycling businesses have cropped up with support from UNILEVER creating additional socio-economic benefits.

The program also had a positive impact on the green spaces which increased from 269.29 acres in 2006 to 274.44 acres in 2007.

The Clean and Green program is hence an example that showcases the vitality of grassroots level interventions in waste management.

Photo by Trinity Nguyen on Unsplash