Lesson video

Hello and welcome.

My name's Ms. Harrison and I'm so excited to be learning with you today.

Grab everything you might need for today's lesson and let's begin our learning.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe the challenges associated with managing environmental issues in Jakarta.

Before we can begin this learning, we need to define the keywords that we'll be using throughout today's lesson.

The keywords are pollution, groundwater, and congestion.

Pollution: this is the presence of harmful substances in the environment, such as in the air, water, or soil which can damage ecosystems and human health.

Groundwater: this is water found underground in soil, sand, and rock.

It is stored in aquifers and can be used as a source of water for drinking or industry.

Congestion: this is situation where there are too many vehicles on the roads causing traffic to move slowly or come to a standstill, leading to longer journey times and increased pollution.

Now that we've defined these keywords, we can begin our learning.

The first topic we're going to explore in today's lesson is challenges of waste disposal.

As Jakarta's population has grown, so has the amount of waste the city produces and managing it has become a serious challenge.

Every day, Jakarta produces over 7,000 tonnes of waste.

That's enough to fill multiple football fields daily, but not all of this waste is collected or disposed of properly.

In poorer areas, rubbish collection is often inconsistent or unreliable.

This means that large piles of waste can build up near homes or public spaces.

Littering and illegal dumping are common, especially in rivers, vacant land and kampungs creating health risks and blocking drains.

Waste that isn't collected can contribute to flooding, air and water pollution and the spread of diseases.

This clear example of how unequal services affect the urban pool more severely and why poor waste management is a key part of sustainable urban planning.

How much waste is produced on average each day in Jakarta? Pause the video here whilst you decide and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

The answer is D, 7,000 tonnes.

Well done if you identified that correctly.

Jakarta's growing waste problem isn't just about litter.

It's also about where all that waste ends up.

Most of the city's rubbish is centre Bantar Gebang, one of the largest landfills in the world, but this landfill is now almost full because Bantar Gebang is reaching capacity, waste is being dumped in new unplanned locations without proper controls.

The landfill releases methane gas, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

Nearby communities suffer from air and water pollution affecting people's health and quality of life.

Rats, flies and other pests are common in areas surrounding the landfill increasing the risk of disease.

Bantar Gebang shows what can happen when a city's waste system becomes overloaded and highlights the urgent need for better waste management, recycling and long-term planning.

Alex and Aisha are having a discussion about what problems are caused by Bantar Gebang.

I would like you to decide who is correct.

Pause the video here whilst you read their statements and press play when you're ready to continue.

Fantastic.

The statement that's correct is Aisha.

I would now like you to explain, why? Pause the video here and press play to continue.

Fantastic.

The reason why Aisha is correct is because Bantar Gebang is a serious problem.

It's almost filled, so waste is being dumped in unplanned areas.

This causes air and water pollution, releases methane gas and attracts rats and pests.

People living nearby are directly affected.

Well done if you managed to explain that correctly.

You've done brilliantly.

In Jakarta, only a small amount of waste is recycled.

Currently less than 5% is.

To fix this, the government is planning changes.

One of the biggest steps is the development of waste-to-energy plants.

These will help to reduce the amount of rubbish centre landfill by converting waste into electricity.

Right now, there are very few recycling centres and not many trained workers to manage waste properly, but this is slowly starting to change.

Community-led composting and recycling projects are beginning to grow in different parts of the city, especially in kampungs.

One major challenge is that there's no proper system for separating waste at home or in schools.

That means recyclable materials often get thrown away with general rubbish.

To solve this, there are new plans to make recycling a formal part of Jakarta's economy, including systems for sorting, collecting, and processing waste in a more organised and professional way.

If these steps succeed, Jakarta could become cleaner, more efficient and more sustainable with better jobs, less landfill use, and less pressure on the environment.

I would like you to read each statement below and decide whether it describes a problem or a solution for waste and recycling in Jakarta.

Pause the video here whilst you attempt this task and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

Let's go through these.

For A, less than 5% of waste is recycled is a problem.

For B, government planning waste-to-energy plants is a solution.

For C, no system to separate waste at home or school is a problem.

For D, plans to make recycling part of their formal economy is a solution and for fewer recycling centres and trained workers is a problem.

Well done if you identified those correctly.

You've done brilliantly.

I would now like you to look closely at the image of Bantar Gebang, one of the world's largest landfills, and add at least four annotations around the photo to show the problems that site is causing.

Pause the video here whilst you attempt this task and press play when you're ready to continue.

Fantastic.

Before we go through our answers, I would like you to complete one more task.

I would like you to describe two problems with recycling in Jakarta, Laura has said, Recycling is when waste materials are turned into new products to prevent waste, I recycle lots at home, but I know Jakarta struggles with this.

Pause the video here whilst you attempt this task and press play when you're ready to continue.

Fantastic.

Let's check our answers.

For the first task I asked you to add at least four annotations around the photo to show the problems the site is causing.

Your annotations might include Bantar Gebang is almost full.

Waste is dumped in new and unplanned sites.

Nearby areas suffer from air and water pollution, landfills release methane gas, and rats and pests are commonly the site.

Well done if you manage to include some of those points in your answer.

I then asked you to describe two problems with recycling in Jakarta.

Your answer might include some of the following points.

One big problem is that less than 5% of waste is recycled in Jakarta, which means most rubbish ends up in landfills.

This is bad for the environment because it creates pollution and takes up space.

There are also few recycling centres and not enough trained workers, so even if people want to recycle, they often can't.

Another issue is that waste isn't separated at home or in schools, which makes it difficult to recycle anything properly.

These problems make it hard for Jakarta to manage its waste in a clean and sustainable way.

Well done if you managed to include some of those points in your answer, you've done brilliantly.

We're now going to explore our second topic of today's lesson, challenges of air and water pollution.

Jakarta is known for being one of the most polluted cities in the world, especially when it comes to air pollution.

This is largely due to high traffic levels, industrial emissions, open burning of waste, and on the map you can see that we are looking at is a GIS layer and that shows the levels of PM2.

5, very fine type of air pollution.

PM2.

5 refers to tiny particles of that are less than 2.

5 micrometres wide, small enough to enter deep into people's lungs and even in the bloodstream.

This type of pollution is the most dangerous to human health.

Areas with higher PM2.

5 scores, which are shown in darker colours have more harmful air, which increases the risk of breathing problems, asthma, hearts, and lung disease, and in Jakarta, poorer communities are often more exposed to the highest pollution levels as they live closer to busy roads or factories.

Air quality is a major public health issue that's directly linked to urban planning, transport and waste management.

The main source of Jakarta's dangerous PM2.

5 air pollution is vehicle exhausts.

The fumes released by cars, buses, and especially motorbikes.

Jakarta has over 20 million motorised vehicles including more than 13 million motorbikes.

That's a huge number, and the problem isn't just how many vehicles there are, but also how old many of them are.

A large number of vehicles are poorly maintained and use outdated engines which release more pollutants into the air, and this includes fine particles like PM2.

5, which are especially harmful to human health.

On top of that, traffic congestion makes it worse.

When vehicles are stuck in traffic and running for longer periods, they produce even more emissions even though they're barely moving, so Jakarta's heavy traffic and old vehicles are a major reason why the city has some of the worst air pollution in the world.

Jakarta's population is around 11 million people.

How many motorbikes are there on Jakarta's road each day? Pause video here whilst you decide and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

The answer is B, more than 13 million.

Well done if you identified that correctly.

You've done brilliantly.

While vehicles are the main source of Jakarta severe air pollution, they're not the only cause and several other factors contribute to dangerously high levels of PM2.

5 in the city.

Let's break them down.

We have industrial emissions, factories in and around Jakarta release smoke chemicals and fine particles into the air.

This adds to the pollution mix, especially in industrial zones.

In poorer areas, many families cook using wood or charcoal.

These release high levels of smoke and PM2.

5, both indoors and outdoors affecting air quality and health.

In communities without proper waste collection, people often burn household rubbish in the open.

This creates toxic smoke, especially when plastic is burned and worse than localised air pollution.

Jakarta is located in a low lying basin with contract polluted air over the city, especially during temperature inversions.

When warm air sits above cooler air and stops pollution from rising and dispersing.

From May to October, there's less rain, so pollution builds up in the air instead of being washed away.

This makes air quality much worse during dry months.

Fires in nearby provinces like Sumatra and Kalimantan, especially in peatland areas, release huge amounts of smoke.

During El Nino years, wind carries the smoke over to Jakarta, creating a thick haze and dangerous air quality and rising temperatures and changing wind patterns may increase dry spells and intensify forest fires, meaning Jakarta could face even worse air pollution in the future.

All of these factors combined with traffic pollution to make air quality in Jakarta a serious public health crisis, especially for poorer communities already facing other challenges.

True or false? Most air pollution in Jakarta comes from industries.

Pause video here whilst you decide and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

The answer is false.

I would now like you to explain why.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to continue.

Fantastic.

The reason why this statement is false is because while factories contribute, the main source of air pollution in Jakarta is traffic, particularly for motorbikes and older diesel vehicles.

Well done if you managed to explain that correctly.

You've done brilliantly.

In Jakarta, most people can't drink tap water safely, and that's because the city has a serious water pollution problem.

Over 90% of residents use an onsite sanitation systems and this includes septic tanks, pit latrines, and these are toilets that are built over deep holes in the ground or in some case, waste is being dumped directly into open drains or rivers.

The problem is that these systems often leak, especially when not built properly or emptied regularly.

Septic tanks and pit latrines can leak into the surrounding soil and contaminate the groundwater, which many people rely on for bathing, washing, and even cooking.

Waste going straight into the open drains or rivers pollute surface water, making it dangers for nearby communities and ecosystems. As a result, much of Jakarta's water is unsafe for drinking and people are forced to rely on bottled water or expensive filtration systems which many poorer families cannot afford.

This shows how poor sanitation systems and lack of proper urban infrastructure can directly affect people's health and quality of life.

Clean, safe water isn't guaranteed in Jakarta and access depends a lot on where you live.

In 2024, only about 65% of residents had access to piped water that was saved to drink and came directly into their homes.

The rest of the population still relies on groundwater, especially in southern parts of the city.

Groundwater is water that's pumped from underground wells, but it's not always clean or safe.

In fact, it faces several serious problems. It can be polluted by leaking septic tanks, which can contaminate the water with bacteria and waste.

In some cases, the groundwater is affected by salt water intrusion where seawater seeps into the water supply, especially in low lying or over pumped areas.

Industrial pollution is also a major threat as factories sometimes release chemicals and waste into the ground without proper treatment.

This means many people, especially in poorer or outer areas, don't have reliable access to clean drinking water even though it's a basic human need.

I would like you to match the cause of water pollution in Jakarta to their correct descriptions.

Pause the video here whilst you attempt this task and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

Let's check our answers.

For poor sanitation, it's over 90% of residents use septic tanks and pit latrines, which often leak or dispose of waste into rivers and drains.

For industrial waste, it's some factories discharge toxic chemicals into water sources without treatment.

For saltwater incursion, its overuse of groundwater has led to subsidence and contamination by saltwater.

And for kampung housing, its rapid urban growth has seen kampungs develop along rivers and canals, which are then used to dispose of household waste.

Well done if you identify those correctly.

I would like you to study the photo, which shows informal kampung housing in Jakarta.

I would like you to explain why sanitation systems in Jakarta create challenges.

Pause the video here whilst you attempt this task and press play when you're ready to continue.

Fantastic.

Let's check our answers.

Your answer answer might include some of the following points.

Over 90% of Jakarta residents use an onsite sanitation 'cause they're not connected to a central sewage system.

This means using septic tanks, pit latrines, or disposing of waste into open drains or rivers.

This causes challenges because leakage from the septic tanks and pit latrines contaminates water sources, as does disposing of waste directly into rivers.

As a result of this water pollution, Jakarta's water is not considered safe to drink.

Water pollution also spreads diseases.

Kampungs are often constructed along rivers and streams like in the photo, so these challenges are often very associated with kampungs.

Well done if you managed to include some of those points in your answer, you've done fantastically.

We're now going to explore our final topic of today's lesson.

Challenges of traffic congestion.

Jakarta is known for its severe traffic congestion and it's one of the worst in the world.

There are a few key reasons why.

First, the city's transport infrastructure, like roads, buses, and trains hasn't kept up with how quickly the population has grown.

Jakarta has added millions of people over the past few decades, but it hasn't expanded its roads or built enough public transport to match.

At the same time, residents incomes have increased and that means more people can now afford to buy their own motorbikes and cars.

While this gives people more freedom, it also leads to more vehicles on the roads, longer traffic jams, and much higher air pollution from vehicle exhausts.

In short, Jakarta's traffic problems are a result of rapid urban growth, limited planning, and the rise of private vehicle ownership.

In Jakarta, around 75% of daily trips are made using private vehicles and most of these are motorbikes.

In fact, motorbikes make up about 70% of all road traffic, but why are private vehicles so popular? It's almost as if public transport isn't meeting people's needs.

Buses and trains are often overcrowded, especially during rush hour.

Many public transport systems are too slow and get stuck in the same traffic as cars, and the system has limited routes, meaning it doesn't reach enough areas, especially the outer suburbs or kampungs.

As a result, people feel they have no choice but to use motorbikes or cars even though it leads to more congestion, air pollution, and longer travel times.

This shows how important it's for a city to invest in efficient, reliable public transport if it wants to reduce traffic and improve quality of life.

Jakarta isn't just overcrowded because of the people who live there.

It's also crowded because of the millions who travel in and out every day.

Over 4 million people commute into Jakarta daily from the surrounding region known as Greater Jakarta.

This includes five satellite cities like Depok, Bekasi, Tangerang, and South Tangerang and Bogo.

Most of these commuters rely on roads and not trains, and many use motorbikes or private cars because public transport doesn't cover all areas or is too slow and overcrowded.

This daily flow of commuters puts huge extra pressure on roads causing more traffic jams, air quality as more vehicles pump pollution into the air and public transport, which is often already at capacity.

As Jakarta continues to grow, managing the regional movement is one of the city's biggest urban planning challenges.

Which of the following are reasons for Jakarta's traffic congestion? Pause the video here whilst you attempt this task and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

The answers are A, rapid population growth and B, rising incomes.

Rapid population is one because more people has meant more vehicle use, leading to more congestion and more people has led to urban sprawl, meaning that people have needed to use roads and vehicles to commute into and travel across the city.

Rising incomes have led to more congestion because people have spent money on motorbikes and cars, meaning that they are now actually far more vehicles in Jakarta than there are people.

In 2019, the first part of the Jakarta, MRT opened.

MRT is the first underground train system in Southeast Asia.

It carries 40 million passengers a year along a 15 kilometre line running from north to south in central Jakarta.

These are plans to build on an east to west line too, and by building this, hopefully it will reduce some of the vehicles that will be on the road in Jakarta.

True or false? Most people in now use public transport instead of motorbikes or cars.

Pause the video here whilst you attempt this task and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

This statement is false.

I would like you to explain, why? Pause the video here and press play to continue.

Excellent.

The reason why this statement is false is because around 75% of daily trips in Jakarta are still made using motorcycles or private cars, showing limited progress in shifting to public transport.

Also, public transport is criticised for being too crowded, too slow, and only covering a small parts of the city.

Well done if you managed to explain that correctly.

You've done brilliantly.

I would now like you to explain two ways in which urban growth has created environmental challenges in Jakarta.

To help you with this, I've provided you with some hints.

Make sure your two ways are definitely different from each other.

Show that you understand what makes these environmental challenges instead of economic or social ones, for example, and use specific details relating to Jakarta rather than making generic points that could apply to lots of places.

Pause the video here whilst you attempt this task and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

Let's check our answer.

Your answer may include some of the following points.

Traffic congestion is one way.

It is a result of so many 11 million people living in Jakarta, a lack of public transport.

Jakarta's, MRT only covers a small area of central Jakarta and rising affluence, which has resulted in over 20 million motorised vehicles in the city.

The results of Jakarta's congestion include very high rates of harmful air pollution and conditions that make the city's environment a stressful place that is difficult to live and work in.

A second way is the challenge of waste disposal.

Jakarta's 11 million people produce 7,000 tonnes of waste every day, but the city has grown too rapidly for waste disposal infrastructure to keep up.

Waste is not collected regularly or reliably from many parts of the city with the result that a lot of the waste gets burned, producing air pollution or dumped in rivers.

Less than 5% of waste is recycled with most collected waste going to Bantar Gebang landfill, which is almost full.

Environmental challenges of Bantar Gebang include rats and other pests, air and water pollution, and the release of methane gas.

Well done on this task.

I hope you managed to include some of those points in your answer.

You've done brilliantly.

We've now come to the end of our learning on challenges associated with urban growth, environmental issues, and you've done fantastically.

But before we end this lesson, let's summarise everything we've learned today.

Jakarta produces over 7,000 tonnes of waste every day, but only a tiny percentage is recycled.

Most of it ends up in Bantar Gebang, one of the largest landfills in the world, which is now almost full.

As a landfill overflows rubbish is dumped in unregulated sites causing air and water pollution and harming nearby communities.

Without proper waste management and recycling systems, this problem is only going to get worse.

Water pollution and sanitation.

Remember the onsite toilets, over 90% of Jakarta's residents rely on onsite sanitation like septic tanks or dumping waste into open drains.

These systems often leak into rivers and groundwater, which many people still use for daily needs.

As a result, much of Jakarta's water is unsafe to drink and disease spreads more easily in overcrowded neighbourhoods where clean water is gas.

With over 20 million vehicles in the city, including more than 30 million motorbikes, roads are heavily congested.

Public transport is often slow, overcrowded and doesn't reach all areas so people rely on private vehicles.

This leads to severe air pollution with high levels of PM2.

5 particles, especially harmful to health, the city's location in a basin plus dry season conditions and nearby forest fires make the pollution even worse.

Each of these problems, waste, water and transport is made harder by rapid urban growth, limited infrastructure and social inequality, but as we've also seen community-led solutions when supported by government and NGOs can make a real difference.

Well done on today's lesson.

You've done brilliantly.

And I look forward to learning with you again very soon.