Biogas generation from organic market waste from traditional markets
Activity context
The city of Yogyakarta currently faces a severe waste management challenge, with 17 tons of organic waste being transported daily from 29 traditional markets to the city’s sole landfill, which is beyond its official capacity and lacks landfill gas capture technology. Unfortunately, the city has been unable to define alternative landfill sites and does not yet provide sufficient composting alternatives, leaving few options for proper treatment of organic waste.
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This situation threatens the environment and public health in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, as waste from the now unmanaged landfill has begun to leak from the current site and garbage trucks remain parked with rotting waste outside the facility for days on end, making waste management a priority issue for the city government. The situation is typical for urban areas in Indonesia, with only 80 of the existing 520 landfills in the country managed in a sustainable manner.
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Concept
In order to process organic waste and reduce pressure on the overfilled landfill, the envisioned Article 6 mitigation activity involves the systematic collection of organic from various traditional markets and potentially other facilities (such as restaurants and hotels), as well as the construction of a biogas facility to process the organic waste and generate electricity. This will also alleviate landfill overcapacity and improve waste management in the region.
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Target markets
The biogas facility will initially process waste from three large traditional markets in Yogyakarta, Sleman, and Bantul (which together form an official agglomeration utilizing the same landfill). Given that organic waste is not pre-sorted in households, focusing on traditional markets is an efficient method for gathering large quantities of relatively pure organic waste. The waste will be collected, hand-sorted each day at the market, and transported to the biogas facility twice a day.
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Mitigation potential
The facility is projected to divert approximately 3,900 tons of organic waste annually from the three initial markets, preventing around 72,000 total tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions by avoiding methane release from the landfill over 15 years.
Furthermore, the renewable energy produced is expected to reduce CO2e emissions by an additional 10,300 tons over the activity crediting period.
72,000 tons of CO2e would be reduced from methane avoidance.
10,300 tons of CO2e would be reduced from electricity production.
At this scale, the activity is anticipated to produce 82,700 ITMOs total over a 15-year crediting period, as well as approximately €15,000 from the sale of electricity.
Activity overview
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The facility, to be located on a 13,000m2 site 40km from the city center, could either connect to the grid or supply energy to nearby incinerators operated by the government-owned company which will serve as the coordination and management entity (CME). Additionally, the digestate from biogas production can be provided either free of charge or at low cost to local farmers, encouraging sustainable agricultural practices, since farmers in Indonesia primarily rely on chemical fertilizers.
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An overview of the activity design can be seen in the following figure:
Source: Perspectives Climate Research 2024
Role of stakeholders
Recent stakeholder consultations in Yogyakarta have already defined crucial roles within the activity design.
The Yogyakarta City Economic and Cooperation Division has agreed to serve as the main managing government agency, advising a yet-unnamed newly established government-owned enterprise as the coordination and management entity. The Industry, Trade, and Cooperation Agency, along with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF), will manage waste sorting, collection, and transportation. The facility is to be situated on a plot currently owned by the CME, who will oversee plant operations.
Further roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders will be defined at a later stage. An overview of the roles of various stakeholders in each component can be seen in the following figure:
Source: Perspectives Climate Research 2024
Potential for scale-up: programatic approach
This concept is designed in a way which is scalable and replicable, starting with three markets in Yogyakarta but ideally expanding to include additional markets, hotels, and restaurants across Indonesia. Using a Programme of Activities (PoA) approach, the activity could significantly increase emissions reductions and target waste from many other establishments.​​​​​
If implemented across the 111 similar large markets that primarily sell groceries across the islands of Java (excluding Jakarta), Bali, and Nusa Tenggara, these activities could lead to an average emission reduction volume of 200,000 tCO2e/year (or up to 2,3 million tCO2e over 15 years for all 111 markets).
​Given the significant potential for upscaling, the promotion of biogas facilities has the potential to be a truly transformational activity, supporting Indonesia’s transition to net-zero emissions by reducing dependence on fossil fuels and reallocating waste from landfills to more sustainable solutions.
Implementation stage
We have successfully completed the assessment and development phases of this activity, and we are now in the outreach phase.
We are currently laying the groundwork for a robust implementation framework, with a focus on establishing clear coordination among various stakeholders. As we progress, we will continue to provide updates on the implementation status, offering transparent insights into our achievements and the evolving landscape of the project.
Assessment
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Selection of provinces and calculations of emission structures
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Identification of urban mitigation activities
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Assessment of Article 6 potential
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Stakeholder consultations
Development
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Development of methodology
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Development of two project documents: concept activity overview and Mitigation Activity Idea Note (MAIN)
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Development of activity marketing material
Outreach
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Domestic awareness and training
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Promotion of activity with international funders
Are you interested in this activity?
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We are currently looking for implementation partners and interested ITMO buyers to collaborate with us in this activity. If you are interested in exploring partnership opportunities or purchasing ITMOs, we encourage you to reach out to Sonja Butzengeiger at butzengeiger@perspectives.cc
You can also download our activity concept document below.