Effectiveness of administrative sanctions in improving waste management at final waste processing sites

Abstract

Background: Waste management represents an urgent environmental issue in Indonesia. According to data from the National Waste Management Information System in 2025, Indonesia generates approximately 144,839 tonnes of waste per day, of which only 34.49% is properly managed. As a follow-up measure, the Ministry of Environment (MoE) has imposed administrative sanctions in the form of government coercion orders against 250 final waste processing sites (landfill sites) at the district/city and provincial levels that continue to operate the open dumping systems. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of administrative sanctions in driving improvements in waste management, and identify the constraints faced by local governments in fulfilling administrative sanctions obligations. Methods: A mixed-methods approach combining quantitative-qualitative analysis with descriptive statistics was applied to secondary data comprising 230 compliance monitoring reports, supervisory inspection reports, and 63 sanction extension request documents from 2025. Findings: The findings demonstrate that administrative sanctions implementation has proven ineffective. Of 230 monitored landfill sites, only 5 (2.17%) were declared compliant, while 97.83% were non-compliant, with an average compliance score of 47.7%. This low compliance rate is not caused by a single factor but rather results from a three-constraint causal chain: budgetary limitations (37%) weaken technical capacity (34%), which exacerbates administrative barriers (29%). Furthermore, the 2025 national budget efficiency policy and the 2026 reduction in Regional Transfer Funds also exerted a significant impact. Conclusion: This study concludes that repressive and reactive administrative sanctions failed to promote sustainable behavioural change in waste management without support from preventive approaches, institutional capacity strengthening, and cross-level governmental collaboration. Novelty/Originality of this article: The study recommends strengthening technical assistance, vertical and horizontal resource distribution, integration of repressive-preventive instruments, and flexibility in the phasing of administrative sanctions obligations according to regional capacity.