Mountains of rubbish are overwhelming greater Jakarta, where clogged streets, swarming flies and the threat of garbage landslides have become part of daily life for millions.

The Indonesian capital and its surrounding satellite cities are home to 42 million people and generate an estimated 14,000 tonnes of waste each day. But the roughly eight landfill sites serving the region are either full or close to capacity, according to local reports.

Even the sprawling Bantar Gebang landfill, one of the world’s largest open dumps, is under strain.

Covering more than 110 hectares, it already holds around 55m tonnes of trash. Officials have not disclosed how much space remains, despite reports that it is operating beyond its limit.

In South Tangerang, residents walk past piles of rotting garbage dumped along roadsides after the local landfill reached capacity. The site can hold just 400 tonnes of waste a day, far below the 1,100 tonnes the district produces daily, according to local authorities.

“The smell is awful. It looks filthy,” said Nurhasanah, a market vendor in south Jakarta, describing how heaps of rubbish near her coffee stall are driving customers away, bloomberg reported.

In 2022, a 30 metre high pile of garbage collapsed at a landfill in Cipayung, West Java, sending debris into a river and submerging a bridge. Residents now rely on a makeshift raft to cross. A study by the University of Indonesia found the site had been operating over capacity since 2014.

Indonesia has suffered worse before. In 2005, a methane explosion and heavy rain triggered a garbage avalanche at a landfill in Cimahi, West Java, killing 143 people.

President Prabowo Subianto has warned that nearly all landfills nationwide could be full or over capacity by 2028. Despite a legal ban, open dumping remains common and waste is often burned, releasing hazardous pollutants.

The government says it will permanently close several overburdened landfills, including those in South Tangerang and Cipayung, and build 34 waste to energy plants within two years at a projected cost of nearly 3.5bn people.

Environmental group WALHI says incineration alone will not solve the problem, pointing to weak enforcement, poor public awareness and limited recycling.