Waste Management and Environmental Policy on Small Islands: The
Case of Simeulue Island, Aceh
Vellayati Hajad, Sri Wahyu Handayani, Fadhil Ilhamsyah and Ikhsan
Faculty of Social Science and Political Science, Universitas Teuku Umar,
Alue Penyareng Meulaboh and 23681, Indonesia
{Corresponding author. Tel. [phone]}
Keywords: Waste Management, Environmental, Policy, Small Island
Abstract: Waste disposal capacity is limited in archipelago areas. In the case of Simeulue Island, Aceh, waste production
will have a negative impact on the environment and nature preservation if it is not balanced with appropriate
waste management policies. This study employs a mixed method to examine waste management problems
and solutions in the archipelago, with interviewees from the community and local government. According to
the study's findings, regional waste management regulations (qanun) already exist in Simeulue Regency, but
in practice, these regional regulations have not been well implemented. One of the reasons for this is that the
community has not been involved in the management that has taken place. The conclusion reached is that, in
order to overcome the government's shortcomings and limitations, a participation-based waste management
model based on community empowerment is required in order to solve the complexities of waste management
in Simeuleue.
1 INTRODUCTION
This study discusses how the community
empowerment model in solving the complexity of
waste management can be carried out in Simeulue
Regency. Waste is produced from human activities in
utilizing nature as long as it leaves marks or residues
that are not useful so it is necessary so that it is treated
as discarded goods which are considered as useless
residue, therefore waste is simply thrown away
without processing or sorting it first or is considered
as residual material that undesirable after the project
process ends (Restuningdiah, Nagari, Dwi Jati, &
Azzardina, 2021). In addition, people's consumption
lifestyles also contribute to the emergence of various
types of waste (Armadi, 2021).
Meanwhile, humans define waste based on the
level of its use; and can be classified into many types
including organic waste and inorganic waste
(Armadi, 2021; Nilam Sari, 2017). However, dry
waste can naturally be degraded (decay/destroyed)
(Farastika, 2017). On the other hand, inorganics
cannot be degraded naturally and become a global
environmental issue because the plastics currently
circulating in the market are synthetic polymers
derived from petroleum, which are difficult to
decompose in nature (Fanani, 2017; Singh & Sharma,
2016). As a result, more and more people are using
plastic, so environmental pollution such as soil
pollution is increasing (Amalia Ardianti, 2019).
Indonesian society is experiencing an improving
rate of economic growth at the same time followed by
population growth which has an impact on the
environment because humans tend to damage the
environment in order to maintain their lives
(Akhmaddhian, 2016; Untu, 2020). Waste
management in urban areas that is not good will result
in environmental degradation which can reduce the
quality of the environment and have an impact on
people's lives. As an effort to overcome this problem,
it is necessary to control starting with landfills,
storage, collection, transfer, and transportation of
waste (Mahyudin, 2017).
In general, the majority of waste produced in
Indonesia is wet waste, which accounts for 60-70
percent of the total volume of waste (Kristanto &
Koven, 2019). Therefore, decentralized waste
management is very beneficial in reducing the
amount of waste that must be disposed of in landfills.
In general, waste management should be carried out
as close as possible to the source (Dwi Sukmawati,
2021). The implementation of Law Number 18 of
Hajad, V., Handayani, S., Ilhamsyah, F. and Ikhsan, .
Waste Management and Environmental Policy on Small Islands: The Case of Simeulue Island, Aceh.
DOI: 10.5220/0011564300003460
In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Social and Political Development (ICOSOP 2022) - Human Security and Agile Government, pages 209-214
ISBN: 978-989-758-618-7; ISSN: 2975-8300
Copyright
c
 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
209

2008 concerning Waste Management and Regional
Regulations concerning Waste Management is
considered to have not been effective so far (Untu,
2020). This is indicated by the fact that Indonesia was
asked to become the second-ranked domestic waste
producer with a production of 5.4 million tons
annually. In addition, the weight of waste piles in
Indonesia reaches 200 thousand tons per day or 73
million tons per year, with household waste by 48
percent, traditional markets by 24 percent, and
commercial areas by 9 percent. The rest is from
public facilities, schools, offices, roads, etc.
Figure 1. Volume of Waste in Indonesia and Other World
Countries
To achieve the target, there must be effectiveness
and efficiency in waste management in urban areas, it
is necessary to have management according to
standards to be carried out, accompanied by proper
utilization expected to provide added value in waste
management. This is done by utilizing technology
and choosing the right method, active participation
from the nearest community by maximizing waste
and collaboration between the government and the
community (Ministry of Cooperatives, Ministry of
Agriculture and Ministry of Trade, and Industry and
Financial Institutions). In addition, there is a need for
legal aspects that are used as guidelines for the form
of environmental regulations so that environmental
pollution does not occur due to waste and as an effort
to support sustainable development there is a need for
careful and controlled planning in waste management
in archipelagic areas. In addition, law enforcement is
also important so as not to cause a conflict of interest
in the current effort to utilize the archipelagic
environment (Dwi Sukmawati, 2021).
Simeulue Regency is one of the regencies
included in the category of the outer islands of
Indonesia. Simeulue Regency is also an archipelago
where almost the entire population lives in coastal
areas (Widayatun, 2017). Only a part of the
population of Simeulue Regency lives in
mountainous areas. In addition, most of the people of
Simeulue Regency make a living as farmers and
fishermen, with a small number working as private
employees and civil servants. Every year the
population and the level of need is increasing. The
increasing demand has an impact on the surrounding
environment, for example the increase in the amount
of waste produced. The addition of the amount of
waste generation is not followed by the addition of
cleaning facilities due to the slower handling of
waste. Not to mention the people who do not follow
the rules of cleanliness, the habit of people littering
continues. Be advised that papers in a technically
unsuitable form will be returned for retyping. After
returned the manuscript must be appropriately
modified.
These issues were followed by government
policies that did not all go well, so this incident often
occurred in the Simeulue Regency area. Currently,
the production of waste is barely comparable to the
existing transportation and management system, so it
is not surprising that waste accumulates everywhere.
Regarding the waste problem, it is still a problem
faced both in the city and in the region, and if waste
is not handled properly it will consistently cause
problems (Mahyudin, 2017; Nagong, 2021).
This study of the waste management model in
Simeulue Regency focuses on community
participation and empowerment. Community
participation and empowerment is also an important
thing to do, where the community is not only a
passive participant, but also as an active participant
who is able to function independently after waste
management is developed in the region. This
understanding is in line with the idea of stating
community-based waste management as community
participation in the waste management model so that
they are directly involved in decision making. This
waste management model can only work if there is
collaboration between the government, the private
sector and the community. In reality, waste
management has not been going well, so there needs
to be an appropriate formulation to overcome this
problem by looking at the potential to become part of
the outermost island of Indonesia.
This study ultimately aims to explain and describe
how the right model of community empowerment is
to overcome the waste problem in the archipelagic
region of Simeulue Regency. So far, the difficulty of
inter-regional transportation access and limited waste
disposal areas have made archipelagic areas, such as
Simeulue Regency, very vulnerable to failure in
waste management which results in environmental
pollution and damage to marine biota habitat, as well
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as having an impact on the cleanliness of existing
tourist sites. In addition, the limited information and
knowledge of people living in the archipelago about
waste management makes it important to build an
appropriate model for waste management on a small
island like Simeulue Island.
The specific objectives of this research are to
educate the public and local governments about
efforts to reduce the risk of natural disasters arising
from waste and to optimize the economic potential of
the waste management process in the islands
involving every element of society and related
agencies such as the Sanitation Service and the
Tourism Office. This study is important and urgent to
be carried out because in view of the fact that local
regulations (qanun) related to waste management
already exist in Simeulue Regency, but in practice
these regional regulations have not run well. One of
the reasons is that the community has not involved the
community in dealing with the waste problem, so the
right model of community empowerment is the key in
waste management for the island community.
2 RESEARCH METHODS
This research uses a qualitative method with a case
study approach (Craswell, 2014). The resource
persons in this study were selected by purposive
sampling based on their knowledge and expertise
about the research theme. The resource persons are
the Regional Government (Department of Hygiene),
NGOs, and the community. Furthermore, research
data was obtained through field observations, in-
depth interviews, documentation, and Focus Group
Discussions (FGD) to find out the community
empowerment model in solving the complexities of
waste management in Simeulue Regency. This
research was conducted in Air Cold Village,
Simeulue Timur District with the consideration of the
main challenges in gampong governance, especially
in terms of sustainable waste management in
community empowerment in Simeulue Regency.
The data that has been collected through
interviews is then analyzed by reviewing all available
data from various sources, such as interviews, field
notes, personal documents, official documents,
photos, and so on. Data analysis was carried out
interactively, with each stage of the activity not
running independently. (1) collecting, reducing,
presenting, and leveraging data or drawing
conclusions are all studied in research; (2) the data
received from the field were analyzed using
qualitative data modeling, namely the Nvivo Plus
program [16]. In addition, conclusions are formed and
drawn from the overall data analysis that has been
completed.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Community participation is the involvement of
individuals and groups both physically and non-
physically. Community participation is a group
situation that represents its characteristics or feelings
so that there is an urge to provide assistance to certain
groups in order to help achieve goals and take
responsibility for the efforts made (Sulistiyorini,
Darwis, & Gutama, 2015). The emphasis in this
participation lies in the plans that have been set and
looks at the psychological aspect to encourage
individuals to carry out activities to achieve goals.
There are three elements of participation, namely: (1)
there is responsibility; (2) availability to contribute to
achieve group goals; (3) their availability to be
involved in the group. Furthermore, community
participation in waste management includes activities
of disposal, removal, and management of waste based
on self-awareness and a form of responsibility in
order to achieve the common goal of realizing a
healthy and clean environment.
Participation is also a form of self-awareness,
belief, and benefit because they do not feel forced so
they can carry out activities voluntarily. Furthermore,
according to Cohen and Uphoff there are several
stages of community participation in waste
management, namely; (1) community involvement in
planning for every activity carried out such as
preparing work plans; (2) the stages of program
implementation as a form of participation from this
program in the form of contributions of thoughts,
materials and member involvement; (3) the results
stage in the form of success from community
participation which is an indicator in program
implementation and planning; and (4) the evaluation
stage as feedback to provide input for improvement
of the implementation of the program that has been
implemented (Cohen & Uphoff, 1980).
Waste Management and Environmental Policy on Small Islands: The Case of Simeulue Island, Aceh
211

Figure 2: Stages of Community Participation in Waste
Management
The level of community participation differs in the
level of the participation process which is divided into
three parts. First, high participation if it is carried out
independently who comes from the community and
formulates programs to be implemented. Second,
moderate participation if community participation is
in practice still dominated by certain groups and the
community is able to voice but is still limited to daily
problems. Third, participation is low if it only looks
at the activities carried out by the government and is
still very dependent on funds from other parties and
if these funds are stopped, the activities carried out
will also stop (Sumarto, 2004).
Solid waste is a type of object that is disposed of
containing various harmful and harmless substances.
In addition, solid waste can have a very serious
impact on humans. Because waste is an
environmental problem as well as a social problem,
there needs to be provisions that can affect the wider
community where the environment is a part and
determining factor of human life (Davis; & Cornwell,
2008). Waste data in Simeulue Regency can be seen
in the image below:
Figure 3. Simeulue Regency Garbage Data Data
There are 3 principles of simple waste
management called 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) as
part of strategies and efforts to be able to resolve
waste. Various strategies in reducing this waste
problem reach the Waste Disposal Site (TPA) where
the main key to this success lies in the selection.
However, currently these three principles are also
complemented by two further principles, namely
recovery and disposal.
Figure 4: Principles of Sustainable Waste Management
If there is no selection of waste management, it
will be difficult because of the high risk and
expensive costs that can pollute the environment so
that it can endanger the health of the surrounding
community. There are two types of choices in waste
management: (1) organic waste is a type of waste that
cannot be recycled into compost; (2) non-organic
waste is waste that can be recycled into other objects.
The health threat caused by this waste is very
detrimental to the community, so there is a need for
good waste management, no matter how small the
type of waste must be managed. Not only for health
but also for environmental sustainability. Where is
the collection, transportation to destruction so as not
to disturb the health and the environment in the midst
of the community. In addition, waste also inhibits the
proliferation of bacteria and viral diseases that
endanger human health, especially waste originating
from the community's domestic waste (Mahyudin,
2017).
Community empowerment is the organization of
a service system so that it encourages the community
to carry out activities for the welfare of the
community. Meanwhile, according to the United
Nations, community empowerment is a process
carried out to create economic progress and social
welfare for the entire community in the form of active
participation from the community. There is a goal in
community empowerment to achieve community
conditions in the socio-cultural, political, economic,
technological, and can be implemented by the
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community in a sustainable manner. Community
empowerment programs are divided into three
general characters, namely; (1) the main actors,
namely the community in the planning and
implementation of the program; (2) the main actors
then create activities by looking at the potential of
natural resources and human resources, and (3) the
sustainability of the program implemented as an
initial driving force and development. The main focus
of community empowerment is to help people who
have the same interest in getting a job by looking at
common needs and then being able to carry out a
common agenda to be able to meet those needs.
Figure 5: Three Main Characters of Community
Empowerment
The next focus is on empowering communities as
social workers to manage waste by using locality
development as part of the process to gain economic
and social progress for active communities and their
members (Nations, 2022). Social workers are said to
be community workers in waste management. Waste
management can be successfully managed if there is
community participation as an effort to overcome the
limitations and shortcomings of the government.
Social work has a role in environmental health as: (1)
facilitator; (2) as an educator; and (3) representational
(Ife & Fiske, 2003).
4 CONCLUSIONS
Conclusion of this study, that the problem of waste
management in the archipelago, is not only a
government monopoly but also requires community
cooperation and participation. Therefore, in
managing waste on a small island such as Simeulue
Island, apart from an environmental approach, it is
necessary to develop an approach that touches the
community personally through various coaching that
is able to increase participation and empowerment for
the community. The conclusion obtained is, to
overcome the shortcomings and limitations of the
government, a participation-based waste
management model based on community
empowerment is needed to solve the complexities of
waste management in Simeuleue Regency.
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