Jakarta. The Indonesian government is nearing completion of a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) plant in the Rorotan area of North Jakarta, designed to address the city’s mounting waste problem. 

With a processing capacity of 2,500 tons per day, the facility is set to become the largest of its kind in the world, surpassing a similar plant in Tel Aviv, Israel, which currently holds the record with a capacity of 1,500 tons per day.

The plant, built by state-owned construction company Wijaya Karya under the supervision of Jakarta’s Environmental Department, began construction in March last year.

“The facility is 94 percent completed and will commence operations in February,” Wijaya Karya CEO Agung Budi Waskito announced in Jakarta on Thursday.

Agung explained that the facility will manage domestic waste collected from 16 districts across Jakarta, significantly reducing the burden on the overfilled Bantargebang landfill in Bekasi.

“This facility is designed to produce alternative fuel equivalent to coal. It is expected to reduce the load at Bantargebang by 30 percent while generating 875 tons of RDF products daily,” Agung said.

The RDF output can be used as an energy source for industrial facilities and power plants, making it a key component of Jakarta’s waste-to-energy strategy.

Jakarta generates over 7,500 tons of household waste daily, creating an urgent need for sustainable waste management solutions. The facility employs advanced technology to efficiently separate recyclable materials and process waste into fuel with high precision, Agung added.

Major RDF Facilities Around the World
While Indonesia’s Rorotan plant will take the lead in capacity, several major RDF facilities globally highlight the growing role of waste-to-energy technologies:

• Tel Aviv, Israel: The current largest RDF facility processes 1,500 tons of waste daily, converting municipal waste into fuel for industrial use.
• Copenhagen, Denmark: The Amager Bakke waste-to-energy plant, though focused on incineration, integrates RDF production and is recognized for its state-of-the-art technology and ability to process 450,000 tons of waste annually.
• Singapore: The Tuas Nexus Integrated Waste Management Facility is under construction and will combine RDF production with incineration, with a processing capacity of over 3,600 tons of waste per day once completed in 2025.
• Birmingham, UK: The Tyseley Energy Park processes 400,000 tons of waste annually, producing RDF to fuel industrial operations while contributing to a circular economy approach.