Jatiwaringin Landfill Fire Seen Worsening El Nino

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A fire at the Jatiwaringin landfill in Tangerang Regency has been raging for seven days, consuming 15 to 18 hectares, or 80 percent of the site, and forcing nearby residents to evacuate. The incident is viewed not merely as a local disaster, but as a reflection of deep systemic vulnerabilities in national waste management as Indonesia battles the "Godzilla" El Niño climate phenomenon.

Bondan Andriyanu, the advocacy and outreach manager at the CERAH Foundation, noted that landfill fires and El Niño create a mutually reinforcing feedback loop. El Niño triggers prolonged dry seasons and extreme droughts, causing massive mounds of waste to dry out and become highly flammable.

Conversely, these massive fires release substantial greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, particularly methane, which possesses a global warming potential 21 to 28 times greater than carbon dioxide. This situation aggravates overall methane levels, which are already driven up by fossil fuel combustion, intensifying the climate crisis and fueling extreme weather patterns like El Niño.

"The 'Godzilla' El Niño phenomenon is an alarm that the climate crisis is becoming increasingly real. Although El Niño is a natural occurrence, its impacts have become far more extreme due to climate change, driven by the accumulation of greenhouse gases, particularly from fossil fuel use. This crisis is exacerbated by methane emissions from substandard waste management, as seen in the TPA Jatiwaringin blazes," Bondan said in a statement on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

Yuyun Ismawati, a senior advisor at the Nexus3 Foundation, pointed out that more than 400 landfills across Indonesia still use open-dumping methods without proper gas or leachate management systems. This approach leaves sites highly vulnerable to catching fire, particularly during extended dry seasons. Beyond Jatiwaringin landfill, similar blazes have recently broken out at the Pakusari landfill in Jember.

"Landfill fires actually occur every year, yet the government has failed to implement systematic risk mitigation or preventative programs to this day. The central government must assist regional and municipal authorities by allocating adequate operational budgets for landfill management annually to minimize fire risks and prevent transboundary pollution," Yuyun urged.

She called for stricter technical standards and air quality monitoring around disposal sites, expanding metrics beyond simple dust particles to include PM2.5, PM10, carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, total suspended solids, black carbon, heavy metals, and especially dioxins. Permissible thresholds for these pollutants must be tightened and aligned with the latest World Health Organization guidelines.

"Currently, nearby residents are usually evacuated only after the fires have spun out of control and smoke has spread widely. The government needs to establish legally binding air quality thresholds to serve as early triggers for evacuations. This would allow relocation efforts to begin before conditions spiral into a full-blown emergency, safeguarding vulnerable groups like children, the elderly, and individuals with respiratory conditions," Yuyun added.

Echoing these concerns, Bondan pressed the government to address Indonesia's escalating methane emissions, stemming both from mismanaged dumpsites and fossil fuel combustion.

"The fire at TPA Jatiwaringin shows how methane emissions are a ticking time bomb amid extreme weather. During prolonged dry seasons, waste piles are highly susceptible to ignition, releasing more greenhouse gases and methane back into the atmosphere. Therefore, curbing methane emissions and accelerating the transition to clean energy must be part of efforts to address the climate crisis," Bondan concluded.

Read: Jatiwaringin Landfill Fire: Walhi Slams Systemic Failures

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