USAID Sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Management and Partnership (SELARAS)

Overview

In Indonesia, a total of 36 million tons of waste—the equivalent of 23 garbage trucks per minute—is generated every year. Only 15 percent of that waste is treated, and 13 percent is recycled. Indonesia also faces a growing plastic pollution crisis. Seventy percent of Indonesia’s plastic waste—about 4.8 million tons per year—is mismanaged. An estimated 620,000 tons of waste leaks into waterways and the ocean each year.

Poor solid waste management poses risks to human health and the environment by polluting our cities and contributing to ocean plastics pollution. Improperly managed solid waste is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions due to trash burning and open dumps, where the breakdown of organic materials over time generates methane.

USAID SELARAS advances Indonesia’s development goal of reducing land-based sources of ocean plastics pollution by promoting sustainable and integrated solid waste management and recycling systems in cities. Improved handling of solid waste will also reduce emissions of methane—which is a potent greenhouse gas released by degrading trash. To achieve these goals, USAID SELARAS addresses governance, financing, service expansion, and social behavior change in the solid waste sector, in partnership with the private sector, civil society, and city governments.

USAID SELARAS works with governments at the national, provincial, and local levels, strategically targeting high-impact and catalytic interventions that will have the greatest influence on improving the quality and coverage of service delivery. The activity partners with key institutions and stakeholders to support progress toward the Government of Indonesia (GOI)’s development objectives of reducing marine plastics pollution by 70 percent by 2025. By promoting a robust and efficient recycling system and fostering collaboration with private sectors, USAID SELARAS will also pave the way to a circular economy and propel Indonesia towards achieving 90 percent of waste treated, 35 percent recycled, and 10 percent disposed of in landfills by 2045—goals of the Golden Indonesia Vision 2045.

USAID SELARAS is working in 18 cities/districts in North Sumatra, Banten, Central Java, East Java, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, and Bali.