Sometimes it takes a tragedy to spur collective action. When heavy rainfall in February 2005 collapsed the Leuwigajah dumpsite in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia — an avalanche that killed 143 people — it opened the eyes of residents to the massive waste problem in their midst. Waste reduction became the immediate priority of the Indonesian government, and so waste incineration in Bandung was proposed. It was then vigorously opposed by concerned citizens and environmental activists, and after much debate, discarded. The question remained: how can the government fix the urban waste management system in a beneficial way for both the environment and Bandung’s 2.5 million-strong population? YPBB (Yaksa Pelestari Bumi Berkelanjutan, translated into English as “Guardian for Sustainable Earth”) stepped into the breach with a Zero Waste solution. YPBB is a non-profit environmental organization based in Bandung, Indonesia whose vision is to “achieve a high quality of human life through an organic lifestyle.” Established in 1993, YPBB initially conducted educational activities in schools and city parks to promote environmental conservation. After the landfill collapse, with waste piling up in Bandung to the detriment of its inhabitants, YPBB focused on a Zero Waste campaign: teaching village communities practical tips on proper waste segregation, recycling and composting, and ultimately, sustainable living.
“We learned in 2005 that the easiest way to [connect] with the Bandung citizens about environmental issues is through waste… We saw an opportunity to talk about sustainability through waste,” said Fictor Ferdinand, Director of YPBB and a graduate of the Zero Waste Academy.

FORMING ALLIANCES

Unfortunately, a new pattern emerged where YPBB would train new community members who would later turn inactive, unable to sustain their Zero Waste practices, rued Fictor. Although Indonesia’s Waste Management Law of 2008 (No. 18/2008) emphasized the shared responsibility of all parties in waste elimination and other supportive regulations obliged citizens to minimize waste

¹Lavigne, F., et. al. (2014, December 14). The 21 February 2005, catastrophic waste avalanche at Leuwigajah dumpsite, Bandung, Indonesia. Springer Open. Retrieved from https://geoenvironmental-disasters.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40677-014-0010-5


at source (reduce, reuse, and recycle),adherence to such laws was tepid at best, even with the Ministry of Public Works providing facilities for the temporary storage, processing, treatment, and disposal of waste. Moreover, the waste management system was controlled by the national government. “We realized that one of the key moments to spread Zero Waste as fast as possible is to work with the government. But how? That’s the question,” said Fictor.

Keen to add to their technical knowledge and expand their Zero Waste network, YPBB participated in the Break Free from Plastic (BFFP) movement meeting organized by GAIA held in Tagaytay, Philippines in 2016. Thereafter, YPBB became a member of GAIA and co-founder of the Alliansi Zero Waste Indonesia (AZWI). As a direct result of the alliances formed, YPBB became even more active in mainstreaming a Zero Waste lifestyle and campaigning against waste-to-energy incineration, among other problematic waste management activities, in Indonesia.

Fictor and other staff of YPBB also accepted the invitation from GAIA to the first Zero Waste Academy (ZWA) in Manila, Philippines. The intensive course provided them with MEF’s 10 Steps to Establishing a Community Zero Waste Program model, which they then saw applied in Zero Waste communities in the cities of Malabon, Manila, and Pampanga. Watching the interaction between the waste workers and the barangay officials inspired YPBB on the ways by which they could also reach
out to their own government officials.

BECOMING A LEADER IN ZERO WASTE MODELING/

Upon returning to Indonesia, YPBB modified the Philippine model into an eight-step process to better suit their context. In the adapted model, they removed the brand audit and analysis, transferring that responsibility to allied organizations, and deferred law enforcement for the Waste Management Law for the meantime, electing to wait until the Zero Waste model has been established. “After the model is built, the next part is we campaign on the regulation and tell the government: ‘This model will not last long, unless you have the regulation to sustain it,” said Fictor. Their first target for their Zero Waste campaign: the Bandung City Government.
²The smallest local government unit in the Philippines
³Sub-district
⁴Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. YPBB: Indonesia’s Pioneer in Zero Waste. Retrieved from: lhttps://www.no-burn.org/
meetourmembers-ypbb/fbclid=IwAR0xoexVGUjXpY0mrDBv47WzzQ3jORzcU2IXvSlT89kAeEW_WpE_Ackmg7k

YPBB kick-started their Zero Waste modeling in two pilot kelurahan in Bandung. They also developed
supportive tools along the way so the next iteration in other kelurahan will be easier to implement. “We promoted the [eight-step] model to the government, that Zero Waste can be done with these steps. And it’s quite fast, actually… We can build a model within a month. It really changed everything,” said Fictor.

One kelurahan in Bandung comprises 10 to 20 communities, with each community averaging 300 households. Waste segregated at home gets processed in distributed materials recovery facilities (MRFs) where (1) waste collectors collect recyclables with resale value, (2) residual waste is taken to
collection points for the city truck to transport to a treatment facility and/or landfill, and (3) organic waste gets composted and used in an urban gardening programme (e.g., growing vegetables in a community garden or ornamentals in city parks). Within a year, the city of Bandung was able to divert 950 kilograms of waste from their landfills daily.

LEGAL BACKING FOR ZERO WASTE CITIES

YPBB expanded their work to other areas of West Java in Cimahi and Soreang in Bandung Regency with varying degrees of success. At the height of the pandemic, they also collaborated with other AZWI members in Denpasar, Bali with partner PPLH-Bali (Pusat Pendidikan Lingkungan Hidup), and in Wringinanom Village in Gresik Regency with partner ECOTON (Ecological Observation and Wetlands
Conservation).

By that point, YPBB was already helping the Bandung and Cimahi governments revise their waste management laws. “You will find it very different from the other cities’ waste management regulations in the regency, because it’s coming from our perspective, from our experience. We know what exactly to regulate to have the segregated waste management impacts in the field,” Fictor asserted.

Facing drawbacks in some areas such as slowed implementation at the outset and an erosion of compliance post-establishment prompted YPBB to step up their government advocacy work. “[The cities] have constraints that come from the national government. So we shifted our strategy in 2021, we built a model, still with the approach from the Zero Waste Academy, and after that, promoted it to both city and national government,” he said.

YPBB and its AZWI allies have the technical expertise to aid the national government in articulating impactful waste management laws. “If you look at the law in the Philippines case, it’s really detailed, and kind of like the lawmakers already know what they want to achieve. While in Indonesian case, it’s really vague. It still needs to be operationalized into more technical law,” explained Fictor. To further influence policymaking at the national level, AZWI is preparing to launch a national campaign in 2023.

Part of YPBB’s strategy is to form lasting relationships with government officials by having them participate in the ZWA. To date, YPBB has conducted two versions of the workshop: a ZWAs based on the GAIA-MEF format, and a ZWA focused on policy-making in the Indonesian context. So far, YPBB has successfully trained two batches, with hybrid courses compressed into one week (around 12 to 15 hours in total), averaging 20-30 participants.

“We [orient] them first with the Zero Waste Academy. So then they are committed to work together with the NGOs, and to work with the community on the ground, to build the [Zero Waste] model,” said Fictor. “The head of the environmental agency can be changed every year. But people who join the Zero Waste Academy are going to last there for several years to come. [By orienting governmentofficials to Zero Waste work through the Academy], we really have a partner in that city or municipality or regency.”