Circular Economy: Barriers and Strategy to Reduce and Manage Solid Waste in the Rural Area at Jepara District, Indonesia

Abstract

The term circular economy (CE) refers to a new idea that transforms the old idea of the linear economy, which created the take-make-distribution-disposal-disposal model to take-makedistribution-consume back. When a product reaches its final stage, it will not be discarded; instead, it will be sent back in a form or quality different from the original. The 6R principles: reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, redesign, and remanufacture, are considered during the return process. Several challenges must be overcome for a circular economy to be implemented. However, no one has yet identified and analyzed the difficulties that hinder the implementation of a circular economy in Indonesia, especially in Jepara Regency. This study aims to identify and analyze the difficulties that hinder the implementation of a circular economy in waste management and make plans to overcome them. Five respondents from various stakeholder groups participated in this research, including local government, academics, and nongovernmental organizations. The questionnaire was processed using the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) technique to identify the main obstacles. The results show that the critical factor inhibiting the implementation of a circular economy is the price for building a waste collection, storage, processing, and disposal (B8) system and government initiatives to decide on implementation (B2). Furthermore, based on respondents' assessments, the cost of collecting waste (B16) and the practice of disposing of hazardous waste (B1) waste that is not regulated is at the second level. Waste management requires a model that follows the circular economy principle to answer these inhibiting factors. The waste bank model is the most appropriate to apply to ensure the circular economy concept is running.