Gampong Jawa dumpsite was established in 1994 as part of Banda Aceh Municipality (BAM) efforts
to participate in Adipura Award for the category of clean and green city. The 12 ha area was a
dumpsite for most of wastes from BAM and Aceh Besar District. When earthquake/tsunami hit Banda
Aceh in December 2004, it was completely destroyed and all the wastes were swept away.
This paper is aimed to present the lessons of how a dumpsite is rehabilitated to a landfill. Some issues
and challenges are discussed, i.e. the development process; land acquisition; technical consideration
i.e. DED, leachate and LFG management, geotechnical aspects; social aspects contributes to
minimise waste production; and other supporting facilities.

After the tsunami, the dumpsite was used as a final disposal area for tsunami wastes collected from
BAM and Aceh Besar. In 2006, BAM expanded the area by purchasing the surrounding 9 ha nonproductive fish ponds. In 2008, the Agency for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (Badan Rehabilitasi
dan Rekonstruksi / BRR) initiated the rehabilitation by constructing a new sanitary landfill which was
initially operated in January 2009.

The landfill operation is currently supported with necessary equipments and sufficient budget. BAM
allocates IDR 1.3 billion annually for O&M. A number of new facilities are recently being provided,
e.g. weighing bridge and MRF facilities. Moreover, it is being upgraded to a transfer station while
Blang Bintang Regional Landfill is under construction during 2012. Currently the total of waste
disposal is 155 tons/day, 15% of the waste is sorted for any recyclable and compost materials.
It is expected that Gampong Jawa Landfill will contribute useful information for local governments,
either in Aceh or other districts in Indonesia, mainly for the policy makers involved in urban
planning, specifically solid waste management sector, to include a sustainable urban solid waste
management, especially landfill development as integrated part of it