Update on waste reduction performance by waste-to-energy incineration pilot plant PLTSa Bantargebang operations

Abstract

Many big cities in Indonesia are facing the problem of municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal. PLTSa Merah Putih, a waste-to-energy incineration pilot plant, was built as an alternative solution to reduce waste. This study aims to evaluate the performance of PLTSa Merah Putih Bantargebang in reducing volume of waste. During the first semester of 2021, the pilot plant has been running for 174 days and a total of 5647.1 ton of waste was burned generating around 1000 ton of ash. Based on the feeding waste and generated ash, the pilot plant can reduce over 79% of waste, even with high moisture content. The furnace and grate temperature can be maintained at 800°C and 1000°C, respectively, to minimize harmful gases generation. This study showed that the waste reduction of PLTSa was comparable with the performance of other waste-to-energy pilot plants, which is in the range of 70-90%.