The City of Surabaya is the second largest city after the capital city of Jakarta. It has approximately 3 million people and has a vision as a services and trade city that is intelligent, humane, dignified and environmentally sound. As a trade and services based metropolitan city, Surabaya relies on the availability of adequate infrastructure and comfortable livelihood for its citizens.
The City of Surabaya is equipped with various facilities for interaction of the people interaction facilities, especially green open space facilities such as parks, Pantai Timur Surabaya (East Coast of Surabaya) as mangrove conservation area, and pedestrian paths. Green open space available in the city of Surabaya has reached 20.2% of the city area,in addition to plus the city reforestation program conducted independently by the community through the “Green and Clean” programme. Various activities related to the environment with active community participation, such as waste management and reforestation, helped shape a healthy urban environment. Peoples’ awareness to participate in maintaining the environment gives a positive impact for the development of the urban environment. Surabaya grows not just physically, but also ecologically, and that’s why the city of Surabaya is known as a beautiful, healthy, safe and comfortable city.
Waste Management
To extend the life span of the landfill, the Surabaya City Government implements a policy of reducing waste from its source through the 3R concept (Reduce, Recycle, Reuse).
The 3R in Surabaya is implemented through Independent Community-Based Waste Management with 3 basic concepts, reduce waste at its source; waste segregation; and waste processing. Organic waste is processed into compost by household composter such as barrel composter, Takakura Baskets, etc. while the inorganic waste is sold to scavengers or made into recycled materials. Activities undertaken for the Independent Community-Based Solid Waste Management include:
- dissemination;
- establishment of environmental cadres;
- assisting residents in cooperation with NGOs;
- distribution of barrel composter, Takakura Basket, and trash cart; and
- policy enforcement. Community-Based Solid Waste Management has been implemented in 2774 regions scattered in the city of
Surabaya and was recognized by awarding the community with titles such as Green and Clean, MerdekadariSampah (Free from Garbage), Eco School, as well as Surabaya Green Office. Composting program and waste banks implementation are also done to reduce the amount of waste from its source. Surabaya currently has 16 composting centres to process waste from market waste, household waste, and road and parks maintenance. There are five waste banks managed by the residents, namely Bank SampahMandiri, Bank SampahRukunKarya, Bank SampahKelurahanJeruk, Bank SampahKelurahanGading, and Bank SampahKelurahanBulak Banteng. Seeing the success of the waste bank operation, subsequently Surabaya City Government is planning to build new waste banks in two locations: Bratang and Keputih which are undertaken as the CSR initiative of the National Gas Company.
City Sanitation
Sanitation methods in the city of Surabaya are conducted with on-site and off-site system. In residential areas, it is done through Community Based Sanitation (SANIMAS), in which people create a communal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) assisted by the government, among others, at several flats and health facilities as well as Benowo landfill. Some neighbourhoods in the city of Surabaya also have its own communal plant (WWTP). As for sludge processing, the city of Surabaya has faecal waste processing installation (IPLT) in Keputih.
Healthy Air Quality Control
The City of Surabaya has an automatic air quality monitoring system (AQMS) conducted continuously for 24 hours daily and non-automatic air quality monitoring system, conducted once every 6 months. The measurement results of AQMS are transmitted electronically to the Regional Air Quality Monitoring Centre at the Environmental Agency’s office in Surabaya.
Some of the activities undertaken to reduce levels of air pollution includes:
- implementation of traffic restriction zone policy and restrictions for old vehicles to control traffic congestion;
- development and improvement of mass-based public transport;
- implementation of Car Free Day;
- implementation of the exhaust emissions test;
- greening throughout the city of Surabaya; and
- air quality monitoring for emissions in the industrial area.
