Many residents know about waste sorting, but haven't yet implemented it.

A number of Indonesian households are aware of the separation of organic and inorganic waste. Unfortunately, this knowledge has not been translated into action.

This is in line with the 2022 Housing and Settlement Statistics report from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), which shows that 39.92% of the 75,000 sample households surveyed know about waste separation but do not do it. The breakdown shows 46.63% in urban areas and 30.76% in rural areas.

This proportion is closely matched by households that are unaware of and do not perform waste separation, at 39.87%. This lack of awareness is more prevalent in rural households (49.83%) than in urban households (32.56%).

BPS further analyzed this based on the education level of the head of household (HoH) who responded that they did not know about waste separation.

The highest percentage was among those who had never attended school or did not complete school (64.68%); primary school/equivalent (47.59%); junior high school/equivalent (37.62%); senior high school/vocational school/equivalent (29.71%); and higher education (14.52%).

"The still low percentage of knowledge and behavior regarding waste separation among households indicates the need for more advocacy regarding the importance of waste management. The separation of inorganic waste, such as plastic, bottles, glass, and others, needs to be done because they have a long decomposition time if left naturally," wrote BPS in its report.

Furthermore, 19.49% of households know about and perform waste separation. Households that perform waste separation are more prevalent in urban areas (20.09%) than in rural areas (18.66%).

Interestingly, 0.73% of the population, who are unaware of the separation of organic and inorganic waste, already perform waste separation. The breakdown shows 0.74% in rural households and 0.73% in urban households.

After separating and collecting waste, BPS mentions that there are stages to prevent waste from scattering before further action such as transportation, recycling, or composting.

BPS explains that ideally, waste disposal sites should have lids because the decomposition process produces unpleasant odors and can attract disease-carrying animals.

(See also: Indonesian Population Generates 250 Kg of Waste Per Year, 5th Highest in ASEAN)