Project STOP, with scale-up partner Clean Rivers and in partnership with Banyuwangi Regency, as well as with the support of the Indonesian Government, are celebrating a significant milestone in advancing circular waste management in Southeast Asia. Last year, the Program expanded access to affordable, end-to-end waste management services to 772,485 people across all Project STOP cities, a 200,000+ increase compared to 2024. There has been a strong focus on establishing Indonesia’s first regency-wide circular waste management system in Banyuwangi Regency, East Java.
Borealis
Project STOP and partners reached significant circular waste management milestone in 2025
Borealis and Systemiq co-founded Project STOP. Since 2017, waste management systems have helped the Program collect 100,961 metric tons of waste, which is the equivalent of almost 200,000 local waste collection tricycle loads. This milestone reflects the strength of long-term partnership and community engagement, which is at the heart of Project STOP.
With the support of Banyuwangi Regency, in 2025, the program worked with village leaders, facilitators, and local influencers. This helped to improve household participation rates. Banyuwangi Regency’s efforts were recognised nationally, ranking second in Indonesia for community-based total sanitation (STBM) and receiving the Swasti Saba Healthy District Award.
2026 is predicted to be another year of further growth, with Project STOP continuing to expand its waste collection services to additional villages in Banyuwangi Regency, commissioning a second material recovery facility in Karetan, and beginning the construction of two material transfer stations. These facilities are expected to handle up to 260 metric tons of waste per day.
“Surpassing 100,000 metric tons of waste collected is an important milestone for Project STOP and a testament to what long-term partnership and local leadership by Banyuwangi Regency can accomplish,” said Stefan Doboczky, CEO of Borealis. “By expanding access to waste management services for hundreds of thousands of people, strengthening local capacities, and advancing critical infrastructure, Project STOP continues to demonstrate how circular solutions can be delivered at scale, and these efforts are an integral part of Borealis’ strategy.”
Widharmika Agung, Partner and Head of Indonesia office at Systemiq, added, “Reaching this milestone shows that circular waste systems can move beyond pilots and become embedded in local institutions. What we are seeing in Banyuwangi is the strengthening of governance, operational capability and infrastructure working together as one system. That systems-level integration is what enables long-term impact at scale.”
“We are proud to be working alongside committed partners to build integrated systems that expand communities’ access to waste services,” concluded Deborah Backus, CEO of Clean Rivers. “Every ton of waste collected is waste that was not openly burned, dumped or left to leak into soils and waterways – reducing the burdens that mismanaged waste places on lives, livelihoods and the environment.”