IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i10p3921-d1390181.html

How Indonesia’s Cities Are Grappling with Plastic Waste: An Integrated Approach towards Sustainable Plastic Waste Management

Author

Listed:
  • Yunisa Zahrah

    (Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8576, Japan)

  • Jeongsoo Yu

    (Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8576, Japan)

  • Xiaoyue Liu

    (Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8576, Japan)

Abstract

In Indonesia, plastic constitutes the second largest component of municipal solid waste; however, 58% remains uncollected. Most plastic recycling depends on informal sectors, accounting for only 10% of the total, leaving the remainder to potentially harm the environment. This paper analyzes how cities in Indonesia have tackled their plastic waste problems from the perspective of the integrated sustainable waste management framework. This study focuses on plastic waste management (PWM) in three cities: Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Magelang. Data were collected from 41 semi-structured interviews, a plastic waste composition data analysis, and site visits. The research outcomes include a comprehensive analysis of stakeholder roles, plastic waste flow, plastic waste composition data, and various challenges in PWM. This study identifies three main stakeholders in collecting plastic wastes: the Department of Environment as the main local government body, community-based waste banks, and private waste management companies. Most recyclable plastic waste is recovered through waste banks and private collection services. In 2022, the predominant types of plastic waste in Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Magelang City were soft plastics, thick plastics, and hard plastics, respectively. The challenges for the PWM stem from various aspects in political, legal, and institutional; environmental; financial and technical; and socio-cultural spheres. Positive trends towards an integrated system are observed, although full integration has not yet been achieved. The research recommends a multi-stakeholder cooperative approach involving municipal authorities, waste banks, and private collectors, responsive to local conditions and emphasizing sustainability aspects throughout waste management stages for a sustainable resource recycling in developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Yunisa Zahrah & Jeongsoo Yu & Xiaoyue Liu, 2024. "How Indonesia’s Cities Are Grappling with Plastic Waste: An Integrated Approach towards Sustainable Plastic Waste Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-32, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:10:p:3921-:d:1390181
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/10/3921/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/10/3921/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maria Triassi & Bruna De Simone & Paolo Montuori & Immacolata Russo & Elvira De Rosa & Fabiana Di Duca & Claudio Crivaro & Vittorio Cerullo & Patrizia Pontillo & Sergi Díez, 2023. "Determination of Residual Municipal Solid Waste Composition from Rural and Urban Areas: A Step toward the Optimization of a Waste Management System for Efficient Material Recovery," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Dek Vimean Pheakdey & Nguyen Van Quan & Tran Dang Khanh & Tran Dang Xuan, 2022. "Challenges and Priorities of Municipal Solid Waste Management in Cambodia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-27, July.
    3. Joana C. Prata & Ana L. Patrício Silva & João P. da Costa & Catherine Mouneyrac & Tony R. Walker & Armando C. Duarte & Teresa Rocha-Santos, 2019. "Solutions and Integrated Strategies for the Control and Mitigation of Plastic and Microplastic Pollution," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-19, July.
    4. Elias W. Gabisa & Chavalit Ratanatamskul & Shabbir H. Gheewala, 2023. "Recycling of Plastics as a Strategy to Reduce Life Cycle GHG Emission, Microplastics and Resource Depletion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-13, July.
    5. World Bank, 2021. "Plastic Waste Discharges from Rivers and Coastlines in Indonesia," World Bank Publications - Reports 35607, The World Bank Group.
    6. Turner, David A. & Williams, Ian D. & Kemp, Simon, 2015. "Greenhouse gas emission factors for recycling of source-segregated waste materials," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 105(PA), pages 186-197.
    7. Navarro Ferronato & Vincenzo Torretta, 2019. "Waste Mismanagement in Developing Countries: A Review of Global Issues," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-28, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhuojiao Yu & Xiaoyue Liu & Jeongsoo Yu & Mohammad Sujauddin & Gaku Manago, 2025. "A Cluster Analysis of Cooperative Recycling Behaviors for Post-Consumer Plastic Waste in Urban Areas: A Case Study on Sendai, Kawasaki, and Kyoto City in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-17, September.
    2. Alexandro Barbosa & Tadeu Junior de Castro Gonçalves & Pedro Simões, 2025. "Improving Municipal Solid Waste Services: Insights into Efficiency, Productivity, and Recycling in Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-24, March.
    3. Joyashree Roy & Sirayuth Thongprasert & Prathana Panwar & Angga Prabowo & Satabdi Datta & Joyee Shairee Chatterjee, 2026. "Transition to Circular Plastic Economy: How It Is Unfolding in Developing Countries," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 1-42, April.
    4. Robert Wozniak & Mariola Chrzanowska & Maciej Kozlowski, 2025. "Spatial Distribution of Illegal Landfills in Poland," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 1884-1898.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Asif Iqbal & Abdullah Yasar & Abdul-Sattar Nizami & Rafia Haider & Faiza Sharif & Imran Ali Sultan & Amtul Bari Tabinda & Aman Anwer Kedwaii & Muhammad Murtaza Chaudhary, 2022. "Municipal Solid Waste Collection and Haulage Modeling Design for Lahore, Pakistan: Transition toward Sustainability and Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-39, December.
    2. Swati Dhingra & Stephen Machin, 2025. "Citizen training and the urban waste footprint," CEP Discussion Papers dp2124, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Souphaphone Soudachanh & Alessio Campitelli & Stefan Salhofer, 2024. "Identifying Priorities for the Development of Waste Management Systems in ASEAN Cities," Waste, MDPI, vol. 2(1), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Stephen Mandiza Kalisha & Kondwani Godwin Munthali, 2024. "Multi-Factor GIS Modeling for Solid Waste Dumpsite Selection in Lilongwe, Malawi," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-17, January.
    5. Giovanni Gadaleta & Michele Notarnicola & Sabino De Gisi, 2023. "The Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam: An Environmental and Technological Analysis of Current and Future Scenarios," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Thi Thanh Thuy Phan & Van Viet Nguyen & Hong Thi Thu Nguyen & Chun-Hung Lee, 2022. "Integrating Citizens’ Importance-Performance Aspects into Sustainable Plastic Waste Management in Danang, Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-17, August.
    7. Aleksandra Andjelković & Vesna Janković Milić & Marija Radosavljević & Saša Petković & Ditjona Kule & Stojan Debarliev, 2025. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship in the Western Balkan Countries: Key Constraints," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-18, October.
    8. El Mehdi Bouchtaoui & Ayoub Haouas & Mouna Fahr & Aouatif Benali & Abdelfattah A. Dababat & Ayoob Obaid Alfalahi & Khalid Khfif & Abdelmjid Zouahri & Driss Iraqi & Khalid Azim & Abdelaziz Smouni & Fou, 2025. "Harnessing Phosphocompost Extracts to Mitigate Meloidogyne javanica Impacts on Tomato," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-21, May.
    9. Leslier Valenzuela-Fernández & Manuel Escobar-Farfán, 2022. "Zero-Waste Management and Sustainable Consumption: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Mapping Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-24, December.
    10. Das Kishore Krishna & Devi Chhaya & Kumar Manoj, 2026. "Effectiveness of Waste Management Techniques for Sustainable Entrepreneurship: An Empirical Study Using Structural Equation Modeling," Economic and Regional Studies / Studia Ekonomiczne i Regionalne, Sciendo, vol. 19(1), pages 86-108.
    11. Giovanni Vinti & Valerie Bauza & Thomas Clasen & Kate Medlicott & Terry Tudor & Christian Zurbrügg & Mentore Vaccari, 2021. "Municipal Solid Waste Management and Adverse Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-26, April.
    12. Silvia Vela & Chiara Calderini & Paolo Rosasco & Carlo Strazza, 2022. "Economic and Environmental Evaluation of a Single-Story Steel Building in Its Life Cycle: A Comprehensive Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-22, November.
    13. Made Adi Widyatmika & Nomesh B. Bolia, 2026. "Optimizing waste management through enhancement of citizen motivation," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 8047-8069, April.
    14. Yu Duan & Željko Stević & Boris Novarlić & Sarfaraz Hashemkhani Zolfani & Ömer Faruk Görçün & Marko Subotić, 2025. "Application of the Fuzzy MCDM Model for the Selection of a Multifunctional Machine for Sustainable Waste Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-28, March.
    15. Themistoklis D. Kontos & Yiannis G. Zevgolis, 2024. "A Fuzzy Spatial Multiple Criteria Analysis Methodology for Solid Waste Landfill Siting," J, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-27, November.
    16. repec:bcp:journl:v:7:y:2023:i:2:p:1341-1352 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Zbigniew Jelonek & Przemysław Rompalski, 2025. "Emission Characteristics During the Co-Firing of Fine Coal and Refuse-Derived Fuel from Municipal Waste," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-14, October.
    18. Espinoza Pérez, Lorena & Espinoza Pérez, Andrea & Vásquez, Óscar C., 2024. "Evaluation of mitigation initiatives for simultaneous air pollution and municipal solid waste systems: A System Dynamics Approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    19. Anna Konstantinidou & Konstantinos Ioannou & Georgios Tsantopoulos & Garyfallos Arabatzis, 2024. "Citizens’ Attitudes and Practices Towards Waste Reduction, Separation, and Recycling: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-36, November.
    20. repec:bcp:journl:v:7:y:2023:i:2:p:507-522 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Takunda Shabani & Steven Jerie & Timothy Vurayayi Mutekwa & Tapiwa Shabani, 2024. "Electronic Waste: 21st Century Scenario in Zimbabwe—A Review," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 1269-1284, June.
    22. A. Izzotti & A. Pulliero & Z. Khalid & O. Ferrante & E. Aquilia & S. Sciacca & G. Oliveri Conti & M. Ferrante, 2025. "Using Natural Isotopes for the Environmental Tracking of a Controlled Landfill Site for Non-Hazardous Waste in Liguria, Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(4), pages 1-16, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:10:p:3921-:d:1390181. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.