Yuyun Ismawati Drweiga - The Importance of Waste Management Solutions

Before working in the NGO sector, Yuyun Ismawati Drweiga started as a freelance environmental consultant and part-time lecturer on sewerage systems at Trisakti University in Jakarta. She then worked as a business development manager at PT Traya and Degremont Indonesia, a water treatment company.

In 1996 Ismawati moved to Bali as Indonesia experienced political and economic hardships in the final years of Suharto's reign. After completing a 3-month volunteering program with the Wisnu Foundation, she was selected to be its new director, a position she held from August 1996 until January 2000.

Ismawati restructured the foundation from scratch, establishing a permanent office in Kerobokan before starting Bali Fokus with a few friends and adopting programs that the Wisnu Foundation could not pursue.

Tell us a bit about the first project launched by Bali Fokus.

BF’s first project in 2000-2002 was a collaboration project with Bali Hotel Association, one of the key sources of environmental problems in Bali. We ran a successful project with BHA through the Casa Grande group (GMs of star hotels association), to develop the Eco-Hotel Rating system that included benchmarks of water use, electricity use and other utilities, solid and waste water management, hazardous waste management, human resources and procurement. By conducting the survey and applying 11 topics (100 questions) in 32 hotels, we complement the program introduced by the Ministry of Environment at that time: PROPER Hotel (Performance evaluation through green rating system announced every year). The Eco-Hotel Rating system was later adopted by the Tri Hita Karana award with some modifications and has continued until now. Some of the programs implement in Bali star hotels were introduced during the period of 2000-2002 including the establishment of PT Jimbaran Lestari, the first formal and legal waste collection company.            

Some of your early projects with BaliFokus include sanitation and waste management projects. Since then the state has adopted your projects as national programs. Tell us a bit about the challenges you identified when you first moved to Bali.

Bali attracts more than 5 million tourists annually, exceeding the total population of the island. When I moved to Bali, I was surprised to learn that in 1998, 70% of Bali's surface water resources had already been used up, which is the critical level of water resources sustainability [1] [2]. There was conflict between water use for subak vs domestic and tourism consumption [3]. In one river in East Bali where a white-water rafting company operated, rafters had to carry their raft across some sections of the river due to the low levels of water. There has been very little attention paid to these issues.

To get the grant for our sanitation and waste management project from AusAID, managed by the World Bank, we had to try and prove that poor urban communities were capable of solving their water and sanitation problems. Denpasar was one of the 7 pilot cities required by this 3-year project. BaliFokus and two other Indonesian NGOs were invited by a German NGO to be part of the project collaboration team.

When we developed the proposal, I gave several inputs and made it a condition of my involvement. The initial prediction was that the poor would be capable of covering their waste and sanitation systems, but this proved to be politically incorrect. The states and city managers are the parties responsible and have the obligation to provide utilities for all their citizens, including the poor. 

Our pilot successfully demonstrated how communities (covering 5-10% of the costs), city managers (providing fund for the community to build infrastructure) and central and provincial governments (covering the capacity building components) can provide the basic needs services for the poor. 

For sanitation (waste water management), once the infrastructure is built to a good standard and put under the ground, they will function well as long as you maintain the system properly. Health and hygiene challenges in the sanitation sector are relatively easy to address although in some remote rural areas some modifications and full subsidies are needed. The biggest challenge is in water scarcity areas. Changing the water-based sanitation system into a less water or dry sanitation system is very challenging but doable.

For solid waste management, once the system is established, you will need a champion to remind everyone of its importance and to push for continued operation and maintenance. Changing habits and lifestyles are the most challenging part of solid waste management. I learned also that law enforcement and corruption are other issues that make challenges more difficult to overcome.  

Bali's population has skyrocketed over the past three decades. Has the island done enough to cope with the influx of people?

In 2017, Bali's population was almost double the number in 1990 [4]. Additionally, the same number of tourists come to Bali annually. The ideal carrying capacity of Bali is for 1-1.6 million people [5] [6]. In the last 10 years, Bali lost on average 1,000 hectares of rice fields and agriculture land [7] every year due to the increased number of tourist and the population influx. Sadly, Bali is still very much controlled by Jakarta. Whoever is in charge in Bali as governor or mayor or bupati, have no power to say no to Jakarta. Politics is dirty and does not care about sustainable development. 

As a result, we are facing the tragedy of the commons introduced by Garreth Hardin in 1968 [8]. When Suharto fell 20 years ago Bali should have said enough is enough to the island’s development. For everyone to thrive and to enjoy a good quality of life, we must allow the island to recalibrate for a balanced culture, environment and development. Some people in Jakarta should stop being so greedy.

I think it's timely to call again for a moratorium of new buildings, tourism facilities, hotels, etc. We need to focus on improving what we have right now and improve the quality of everything. This way, we can move up to the next rung on the ladder: quality tourism and a sustainable island.       

Is the government willing or able to keep the island's development apace while also ensuring proper waste management and sanitation on the island?

I cannot answer that question on behalf of government. But what I can say is that early this year, the Indonesian government announced the plan to carry out the “10 Bali Baru” (10 new Balis) development program [9]. I just hope they do not act as greedily as they have in Bali, and uncontrollably develop their tourism. We should remind all stakeholders in Bali as well as the 10 Bali baru that beside the ripple effects of tourism there are rip-off effects that might outweigh the benefits. 

If the central-, provincial- and local governments still consider Bali to be the goose that lays golden eggs, they should have invested in proper and sustainable utilities management systems, especially solid and waste water.

The sewerage system has already been developed, built and installed but is not yet connected with all the potential customers. The people of Bali already paid taxes and consequently already paid the loan used to build this infrastructure, so they have to make it work effectively and efficiently.

The 25-hectare Suwung landfill has operated for more than 25 years. It still operates as an open dumping landfill and the collection system is currently at around 60-70% coverage. A study stated that to prevent waste leakage to the ocean, cities must set the waste collection target to 80%. We need to push our governments to increase the waste collection rate, advance separation from sources, home composting should be made mandatory and recycling efforts should be supported. We need to remove the notion of burning waste because it is a waste of energy and resources.        

What must Bali do to combat Bali's mounting waste management issues?

I understand that our government thinks that we need sophisticated technology to solve our waste problem but actually that's not the case. The main issues are corruption and a solid work ethos. Do the right thing and do it properly.

The nature of our waste is mainly organic. Composting at source or near the source where waste is generated can prevent or avoid methane release at the landfill. Burning the garbage with fuel additives or coal will worsened the situation because you will transform the pollutants from visible and bulky into fine particles and invisible toxics pollutants. I prefer to deal with stuff that I can see and touch instead of vaporized and invisible. Moreover, operating a waste to energy facility will require a lot of money that is susceptible to corruption.

With my colleagues and members of the Alliance for Zero Waste Indonesia, we promote Zero Waste Cities as the way forward. Using hi-tech methods to burn waste is obsolete. Having a zero-waste lifestyle is a new way of life to avoid the tragedy of the commons. Although it sounds impossible, many world cities are now embracing Zero Waste Cities as their new policy to respond waste management issues. 

The government must also develop new and stricter regulations to control products manufactured and sold in the market. The honey moon with dirty businesses that only care to make profit over the planet and the people must end. Industries should learn to embrace the word "reduce" in a positive way and not as a threat to their triple bottom line.

All of us should do our bit to ensure all of us to have a better life and to allow our children and grandchildren to enjoy the planet as we do now.

What are some of BaliFokus' most pressing projects concerning Bali? Plastic pollution and marine litter - the most pressing environmental issue of the century. We collaborate with academia, other NGOs and governments to push for a campaign to "Ban the Big 5" (plastic bags, plastic straws, Styrofoam, small sachets and micro beads), targeting coastal and river cities of Indonesia and promoting a Zero Waste approach as a new way to manage waste holistically. Dirty solutions to clean our environment and dirty businesses - Waste to Energy projects proposed in 7-12 cities [43], coal fired power plants operated near residential areas, burning medical wastes and Refuse-Derived Fuels (RDF) to feed cement kilns, and other type of business that jeopardizing communities’ health using the term "circular economy" or a false interpretation of "zero wastes".     And finally, what can be done on a community-level to ameliorate waste-management and sanitation issues and to combat toxics in the environment?

At the lowest level, communities in Bali can do several things. Separate your waste at home, at least into three categories: wet/organic wastes, dry recyclables, and residues. If you want, you can also separate glass bottles and paper/cardboard.  You can process your wet/organic waste through home composting, using various methods; from the Takakura method to vermi-composting. Lots of information is available on the ground and from the internet.  For sanitation issues, If possible, please dig a new septic tank and make one that is water proof. If you feel confident that your septic tank is water proof, make sure you empty the bottom part of your septic tank every 2-3 years depending of the size of your tank. Call the "Jasa Kuras WC" and ask them where they bring your black water to. If they cannot answer your question properly (to DSDP plant, or DSDP collection point, or Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), call another one.  Use natural liquids to clean your bathroom and toilets and environmentally friendly laundry detergent. Avoid or use less chemicals to prevent the killing of useful bacteria in your septic tank. If you know that in house is located near a tertiary sewerage system (Sanur, Kuta, Legian and Kerobokan areas), ask whether you can connect your home to it.