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The Low Level of Coastal Solid Waste Management in Rokan Hilir Regency
Summary
A coastal area in Indonesia is drowning in plastic waste because there's no real system in place to collect, transport, and properly dispose of trash, researchers found the root problem is that officials never created a solid technical plan for managing it. This matters because uncollected waste piling up on shorelines and in mangrove forests can break down into microplastics that contaminate seafood and water sources, ultimately posing risks to the health of people living in and around these coastal communities. The study's authors recommend a formal local law requiring better waste collection standards, funding, and ongoing monitoring to fix the problem.
This policy paper describes that Rokan Hilir Regency, as part of the coastal region of Riau, faces serious solid waste management problems characterized by low service coverage, limited infrastructure, and high plastic pollution along the coastline and mangrove ecosystems. This phenomenon indicates the absence of an integrated coastal waste management system, resulting in declining environmental quality and the health of coastal communities. This study aims to identify the root causes of the low level of coastal solid waste management in Rokan Hilir Regency and to formulate appropriate policy alternatives to address it. The method used is qualitative policy analysis, comprising the identification and determination of the main problem using the Urgency, Seriousness, and Growth (USG) technique, root cause analysis, and the selection of policy alternatives using the Bardach method based on technical, economic, and political feasibility criteria. Data were obtained from regional planning documents (RTRW, RPJMD, PTMP) and consultations with relevant policy stakeholders. The results show that the main root cause is the absence of a technical study/plan for coastal solid waste management, causing the storage, collection, transport, treatment, and final-processing systems to function sub-optimally. The policy alternative of improving service coverage and the quality of the coastal waste management system was selected as the priority, with the highest score in the Bardach assessment. Based on these findings, a Regent Regulation on Coastal Area Waste Management is needed, supported by technical standardization, funding synergy, a local management mandate, and continuous monitoring and evaluation to restore the sustainability of the Rokan Hilir coastal ecosystem.