Financial prospect of the waste to energy application in solving the most problematic solid waste management in Indonesia

Abstract

Solid waste generation rate in big cities in Indonesia is recorded at 500 t day˗1 to 7,000 t day˗1. The practice of sanitary land fill technology with a very large volume of solid waste tends to become more complex and becomes difficult in controlling the impact of the resulting environmental pollution. Incineration technology has been proven its implementation in some developed and developing countries. Meanwhile gasification/plasma technology and pyrolysis technology are still limited in the application and are still under development process. Study on the extent of incineration technology in the application for waste management in Indonesia is carried out. The purpose of this study is to look at the financial prospects of incinerator technology applications for solid waste management in Indonesia. The application of incineration technology seems interesting in respect to the technical aspects in reducing significantly the volume of solid waste and as well as in producing a very useful source of electrical energy. On the other hands the financial prospect is also very attractive where the breakeven point, net present value and internal rate of return seem to be bankable on the basis of reasonable tipping fee that is quite affordable for the house hold served.