Landfill Leachate Management in Indonesia: A Review

Municipal solid waste has become a major environmental issue in Indonesia, due to the increase of population and quantity of waste, leachate production, lack of management and lack of public awareness. Landfill leachate generation and its treatment have been one of the main focus in the landfill management. Normally, leachate is formed through the seepage of water by external sources such as drainage, rain water and so on through the garbage in the landfill. Leachate contains suspended and dissolved solid pollutants, chemicals both organic and inorganic of high concentrations such as ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, sulfides, heavy metals, nitrogen and others. With such high concentration of pollutants, leachate is highly potential to pollute the groundwater and the environment. This paper presents an overview of landfill leachate management in Indonesia, discussing the characteristics of the leachate from different landfills throughout the country on the basis of the reported literatures, current practice of landfill leachate treatment in the country, and technological development of leachate treatment for possible implementation in the future.