Fuel price hike means more money for scavengers

Fuel price hike means more money for scavengers

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post/Cirebon

While many people are feeling the bite from recent fuel price
increases, Cirebon scavengers are finding it a blessing in
disguise. Since the increase in fuel prices on March 1, their
earnings have increased dramatically due to higher prices being
paid by traders for waste materials.

Waste materials traders in the Cirebon municipality and
regency said that the purchase price of waste materials,
especially scrap iron, old plastic buckets and paper carton, had
increased significantly.

Many large waste materials yards are found in the Kesambi and
Harjamukti districts of Cirebon municipality, while those in
Cirebon regency are mostly located in the Panguragan district.

According to Yadi, a scrap trader in Kesambi, Cirebon, the
price of scrap iron, which ranged from Rp 1,300 to Rp 1,400 per
kilogram previously, has now increased to Rp 1,700 to Rp 1,800
per kilogram. The price of old plastic pails, previously Rp 1,000
to Rp 1,200, has increased to Rp 1,400 to Rp 1,500. Paper carton
has risen from Rp 800 to Rp 900 per kg, to Rp 1,000 to Rp 1,100
per kilogram.

Scavenger Amin, 25, from Bungko village, Kapetakan district in
Cirebon regency, spoke to The Jakarta Post about the price rises.

"Prices for waste materials have risen since the government
raised fuel prices, and we don't know why. The rise in fuel
prices has become a blessing for us because we can sell scrap for
higher prices than before," said Amin.

Before the fuel price increases, Amin was earning Rp 25,000 to
Rp 30,000 daily, but now he regularly brings home Rp 40,000 to Rp
60,000 a day. "If I'm lucky, I can even earn Rp 80,000 to Rp
100,000 a day," said Amin.

Amin starts work at 8 a.m. every day, using a bicycle fitted
with two large woven bamboo baskets. He pedals from one
residential area to the other to obtain discards and waste
materials, and returns home at 5 p.m.

Besides residential areas, he also goes to the garbage dump in
Harjamukti district, some 10 kilometers south of Cirebon city.

"We have to pay for discarded scrap in residential areas, but
not at the garbage dump where it's free, as long as we don't mind
scraping through garbage for scraps of iron, plastic pails or
carton," said Amin, who has been eking out a living as a
scavenger for six years.

He said that he obtained waste materials at low prices from
residents. "The most I pay for a kilogram of scrap iron is Rp
600, for plastic buckets Rp 400, and for carton Rp 250 per
kilogram," said Amin.

If he is lucky, he sometimes even gets scrap for free.

"Residents might take pity on me, so they give me things for
free. After taking the things, they sometimes ask me to tidy up
the storage place," said Amin.

A scavenger from Cangkol village in Cirebon city, Suyanto, 30,
said that his earnings had improved considerably since the fuel
price increases.

Like Amin, Suyanto also obtains discards by pedaling through
the residential areas of the city.

"I also go to housing complexes where there are always things
that the occupants want to discard, perhaps due to their
extravagant lifestyle, of buying new things just to keep up with
the latest trends. Besides that, I also scavenge for reusable
objects at the garbage dump," said Suyanto.

Suyanto said that he could bring home between Rp 40,000 and Rp
50,000 a day, considerably higher than before the fuel price
hike.

"I could only earn Rp 20,000 to Rp 30,000 per day before the
fuel price increases," he said.