Minister Reveals Proposal to Rename 'Pemulung' to 'Pemilah Sampah'

Manpower Minister Yassierli has revealed that the government is preparing to change the designation of the occupation of ‘pemulung’ to ‘pemilah sampah’. “We at the Ministry of Manpower have also received a request from the Ministry of Environment regarding the naming, which we may initially know as ‘pemulung’, to be changed to ‘pemilah sampah’,” Yassierli stated in North Jakarta on Monday, 10 August 2026. According to Yassierli, the change will be incorporated into the KBJI (Indonesian Standard Classification of Occupations), so that the occupation can be recorded more formally within the employment system. On the same occasion, Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat said that informal waste workers are expected to enter a more formal work scheme in the future. Jumhur noted that the government is preparing regulations governing producer contributions to waste management, particularly plastic waste. Funds collected from producers can later be used to support waste management while providing better protection for waste workers. Through this scheme, workers who have been in the informal sector are expected to have a more formal employment relationship via a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO). The protection measures for waste pickers are considered crucial, as work in waste disposal areas carries a fairly high risk of occupational accidents. In March 2026, for instance, a number of waste workers became victims of a landslide at the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Treatment Facility, some of whom were registered as participants of BPJS Ketenagakerjaan. The government is therefore pushing for the expansion of protection coverage for waste workers, including thousands of unregistered waste pickers.