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.