From Sorting Campaign to Cost Accountability: Implementation Barriers in Balikpapan’s Household Waste Segregation Education Program

ABSTRACT : Balikpapan’s household waste separation education program offers a promising upstream strategy, yet it has not generated solid evidence showing that it is cost-effective. This article revisits Yanthi Lumban Gaol’s thesis on Waste Cost Management in Balikpapan through the lens of implementation barriers. Employing a qualitative diagnostic case-study approach, the analysis uses thesis-based sources, including interviews, observations, program documents, monitoring records, and budget reports. Results show that the gap does not stem from one weakness in community education alone. The issue develops through linked barriers, such as activity-based reporting, divided responsibilities among government actors, facilitators, cadres, and households, incomplete baseline data, unequal facility access, and inconsistent household routines. Informants reported practical constraints, including the absence of containers, remote bank sampah facilities, and financial reports that documented activities rather than cost effects. This paper maintains that the present situation reflects possible cost-effectiveness rather than confirmed fiscal efficiency. Cost-accountable implementation would need distinct cost codes, activity cost pools, connected operational and financial data, and regular comparisons between intervention and non-intervention areas.

KEYWORDS – Activity-Based Costing, cost accountability, implementation barriers, public sector management accounting, waste segregation education