Multi-Actor Collaboration in Waste Governance: A Study of Local Government, Private Sector, and Community Engagement in Medan, Binjai, Deli Serdang, and Karo, North Sumatra

Abstract

Waste governance in metropolitan and peri-urban regions of Indonesia continues to face significant institutional and operational challenges, particularly in areas where jurisdictional boundaries overlap and multi-level actors interact with varying degrees of coordination. This study examines multi-actor collaboration in waste governance across four interconnected regions in North Sumatra: Medan, Binjai, Deli Serdang, and Karo. Drawing on collaborative governance theory and a qualitative case study methodology, the research investigates how local governments, private waste management companies, and community-based organizations engage in, negotiate, and sustain collaborative arrangements. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, field observations, and document analysis, involving 34 informants from government agencies, private sector actors, and community representatives. Findings reveal that while formal collaboration mechanisms exist across the four regions, their effectiveness is constrained by asymmetric power relations, fragmented regulatory frameworks, weak institutional trust, and limited community voice in decision-making. The study identifies four critical dimensions of collaborative governance in this context: structural formalization, resource interdependency, communicative rationality, and accountability mechanisms. The Mebidangro metropolitan framework (Medan–Binjai–Deli Serdang) provides a partial governance scaffold, yet its application to solid waste management remains inconsistent. Karo, as a highland rural district, presents a distinct governance dynamic influenced by tourism-driven waste loads and traditional community structures. The findings contribute to the growing literature on collaborative environmental governance in the Global South, offering theoretical and practical implications for strengthening multi-actor waste governance in Indonesian urban–rural corridors.

Keywords: collaborative governance; waste management; multi-actor; local government; Mebidangro; North Sumatra; Indonesia