Media Contact:
Claire Hermann, chermann@earthworksaction.org
JAKARTA — The rapid scale-up of the Indonesian nickel industry and new processing technologies are creating conditions that are ripe for catastrophic infrastructure failures, according to new analysis published today by Earthworks.
The report, Filtered Tailings in Indonesia: The Catastrophic Failure of a Disruptive Technology, concludes that regulations have failed to keep pace with rapid developments in the industry, resulting in worker deaths, unsafe conditions for communities, water pollution, halts in production, and the looming potential for more harm.
“To ensure the safety of mineworkers and local communities, we need a hard pause on production,” said Ellen Moore, Earthworks mining program director. “No new waste should go into these mine waste facilities until companies and the government can guarantee the safety of communities and the environment.”
Skyrocketing production leads to toxic waste challenges
From 2015 to 2024, Indonesia’s annual mined nickel production rose from 130,000 to 2,310,000 metric tons, increasing from 5.7% to 62.26% of world mine production.
Nickel demand is skyrocketing worldwide, driven in part by increased use for batteries in electric vehicles.
Most of Indonesia’s increased nickel production comes from seven high-pressure acid leaching facilities. HPAL uses high pressure, extreme heat and sulphuric acid to extract the metal. For every ton of nickel, HPAL processing makes about 133 tons of waste, also called tailings. The sulfuric acid from HPAL makes the tailings highly corrosive, toxic, and difficult to manage.
“In Indonesia right now, these tailings facilities are a disaster by design. The risks created by the huge and growing amount of toxic waste are borne by workers, local communities, and the environment. Since 2015, over 40 workers have died due to unsafe working conditions at one industrial nickel park alone. It is time for companies and the government to properly regulate and manage tailings to address the risk of disaster,” said Richard Labiro, Director of Yayasan Tanah Merdeka.
Infrastructure failures raise the alarm
Last month, one worker died and production halted temporarily after an HPAL tailings storage facility collapsed at Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park. In March 2025, a tailings facility failed after heavy rains at the same industrial park, killing three mine workers. Satellite imagery and videos suggest there have been other, unreported failures at the facility.
Technical analysis reveals significant risks
The report shows that other Indonesian tailings facilities, particularly on Obi Island, are built taller and contain more waste than they can safely hold. Some have design flaws that put them at risk of imminent collapse. It also found that inconsistent moisture levels in the tailings themselves could make these facilities highly unstable.
In the event of a tailings facility collapse on Obi Island, the tailings would most likely flow into a nearby river and from there to the Molucca Sea, threatening the safety of mineworkers and residents of the coastal village of Kawasi. The report calls for immediate measures to protect those downstream. The report also finds evidence that seepage from an Obi Island tailings facility contaminated groundwater with boron, chromium-6 and nickel.
Waste disposal alternatives pose enduring challenges
Some methods of tailings disposal, including building large dams to hold waste or cutting down huge amounts of forest to spread the waste more thinly, would also have significant negative impact on communities and the environment. Some Indonesian mines dump waste into the ocean or a river, which also has severe consequences for people and aquatic environments. The government committed to no longer issue new permits for disposing of mine waste in the ocean.
Reducing the amount of water in tailings can reduce their risk. Filtered tailings, in which some of the water is taken out, can be a safer method of storing mine waste, but in countries like Indonesia that experience heavy rains and earthquakes, it still presents significant risks.
Report calls for moratorium until dangers are addressed
The report calls for a moratorium on adding more tailings to existing filtered tailings facilities and on permits for new facilities until the Indonesian government establishes and enforces improved safety guidelines. These guidelines should meet the standard set by Safety First: Guidelines for Responsible Mine Tailings Management, a framework for tailings dams approved by 164 NGOs, technical experts, and frontline communities. Credible independent safety inspections should be carried out at all tailings facilities in order to re-open.
Companies should actively engage all communities and workers who are at risk to co-design emergency management and response plans that keep people safe while also respecting residents’ rights to choose to stay in their homes and on their land.
Earthworks’ report offers guidance for mining companies, government regulators, automakers and other downstream buyers, and investors on addressing the urgent risks associated with the rapid increase in Indonesian nickel production.
The report is endorsed by WALHI Southeast Sulawesi, WALHI South Sulawesi, WALHI North Maluku, Yayasan Tanah Merdeka (YTM), PUSPAHAM, Satya Bumi, and Aksi Ekologi & Emansipasi Rakyat (AEER).
Safeguards needed now to protect communities
“Obi Island in North Maluku is threatened by nickel smelting and processing and the resulting waste. This poses a huge ecosystem risk on such a small island. In Kawasi Village, for example, nickel mining and processing have contaminated clean drinking water, and sediment pond failure has flooded the village. Instead of the company stopping activities or at least being forced to improve by the government, the residents’ village is being forcibly removed to a so-called “Eco Village” provided by the company. The company and the government must be held accountable for their mining management policies that destroy the local ecological system by ignoring the voice and participation of the community!” said Astuti N. Kilwouw, executive director of WALHI North Maluku.
“Obi Island has a land area of only 3,048 square km. Currently, this relatively small island is threatened by the nickel mining and processing industry of PT Harita Nickel. The communities in Kawasi Village and Soligi Village have to suffer the impact of flooding, river pollution, a clean water crisis due to contaminated drinking water sources, and the impact of air pollution. The failure of the mine waste treatment facility will threaten communities in the two villages. The government must immediately tighten supervision and take action against mining industry investments on Obi Island if it is to reduce the risk of ecological disaster,” said Faizal Walhimalut, WALHI National Campaigner.
“People on Sorowako, including women, farmers, and fishers, have been speaking up about the harm that mining causes them, their communities, and their land and water. It is time for local and national governments, companies and investors to take these concerns seriously and put in place safeguards for people and the environment,” said Muhammad Al Amien, executive director of WALHI South Sulawesi.
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