Report: Filtered Tailings in Indonesia: The Catastrophic Failure of a Disruptive Technology
"Filtered Tailings in Indonesia: The Catastrophic Failure of a Disruptive Technology", 25 Mar 2026, Earthworks
The report [...] reveals the health, safety, and environmental risks associated with Indonesia’s booming nickel industry. Regulatory safeguards have failed to keep pace with the rapid scale-up and new waste management technologies. The result is worker deaths, unsafe conditions for communities, halts in production, and water pollution. [...].
Most of Indonesia’s increased nickel production comes from seven high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) facilities. [...] The sulfuric acid from HPAL makes the tailings highly corrosive, toxic, and difficult to manage.
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 improved safety guidelines. [...]
The report also contains specific recommendations for mining companies, automakers and downstream buyers, and investors in Indonesian HPAL nickel projects.
- Replies to the report from BMW, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo Cars, Volvo Group, and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd. Copies of this report were also provided to Harita Nickel/Trimegah Bangum Persada, GEM Co. Ltd., SRK Consulting, Hatch Consulting, PT Lapi ITB, Ford, Honda, Tesla, Toyota, and Volkswagen for comment, but no reply was received.