AIIB, Alliance Invest In Solid Waste Management Across Indonesia

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) together launched a cofinancing initiative to integrate solid waste management services and solutions in more than 10 cities and districts in Indonesia.

Held earlier in Uzbekistan alongside the 2024 AIIB Annual Meeting, the event was attended by Dian Lestari, Director of Grants and Loans, Ministry of Finance, and Ariadi Kurniawan, Senior Representative of Indonesia’s Ministry for National Development Planning. Jacob Duer, President and CEO of AEPW, and Rajat Misra, AIIB Acting Vice President for Investment Clients Region 1 and Financial Institutions and Funds, Global, signed the Letter of Intent.

The collaboration will enable AEPW to contribute concessional resources into the Solid Waste Management for Sustainable Urban Development Project in Indonesia via AIIB’s Project-Specific Window. AEPW is AIIB’s inaugural private partner through this specific window.

“This is a vital step in our shared ambition to forge an impactful partnership during a critical juncture for sustainable development,” Misra said. “This partnership will strengthen institutional capacity for solid waste management at both the national and subnational levels.”

In this project, AIIB aims to provide solid waste management services that are climate-aligned and circular economy principles, benefitting over 9 million people in major cities and provinces. In a circular economy, products and materials are kept in use for as long as possible through “reuse, reduce and recycle” strategies. This project will focus on waste management infrastructure, building the capacity of sub-sovereign entities and catalyzing community change behavior while addressing livelihood concerns faced by informal-sector workers.

AEPW’s investment of USD21.5 million complements the blended finance project financing package in Indonesia, accelerating the shift toward a circular economy that tackles the challenges of mismanaged waste, particularly plastic waste. The funding package includes AIIB’s planned financing of USD150 million over the next five years.

This cofinancing, which may be complemented with further concessional resources, is in addition to the USD2 million project-preparation grant from AEPW, and facilitated by AIIB, for best practices on climate, environmental and social standards for developing circular and end-to-end waste management solutions.