Ramadhan aboard waste collection trucks: stories of 'transformer' drivers at Sarimukti landfill
Queue of waste collection trucks stretches across the Sarimukti landfill area, Sarimukti Village, West Bandung Regency, West Java on Monday 16 March 2026. Various factors have triggered the lengthy queues for dumping rubbish from the greater Bandung region.
According to monitoring by Republika, truck queues extend up to 1.5 kilometres from the landfill entrance area to residential areas in the Cicadas region, Sarimukti Village. Due to these queues, traffic flow for other vehicles using the road connecting the Cipatat area with Cipeundeuy-Cikalongwetan to Purwakarta has been disrupted.
This is because parts of the road are occupied by waste collection trucks. Meanwhile, several truck drivers prefer to exit their vehicles. Some simply sit at the roadside chatting with fellow drivers, whilst others shelter in buildings along the road.
Raffi (24 years old), a waste collection truck driver from Bandung City, said he arrived at the Sarimukti landfill area on Monday 16 March 2026 around 01:00 WIB. However, until 08:00 WIB, the rubbish he was transporting had not been disposed of at Sarimukti landfill as he was still waiting his turn behind other trucks ahead of him.
“Arriving at night at 1 o’clock, I still have a long queue to dispose of waste. This situation has been going on for quite a while,” Raffi said at the location.
This lengthy queue forces Raffi and other waste collection truck drivers to spend more nights at the Sarimukti landfill area during Ramadhan. This is done to ensure that rubbish transported from far away in Bandung City can be disposed of at the Sarimukti landfill.
Therefore, he must depart in the evening to secure a spot to dump waste at the Sarimukti landfill expansion zone, even though he must queue for hours every day. The lengthy queue also forces him to complete only one trip per day.
“Because if I depart in the morning, I won’t get a spot; it will close at the landfill before I can dispose of the waste. So I’m forced to sleep more often in the truck or a shelter,” he said.