Waste prices fall affects income of scavengers

JAKARTA (JP): Greater Jakarta's thousands of scavengers and garbage collection center owners are losing their incomes because of a sharp drop in waste prices.

Over the past few months waste has been piling up at garbage collection centers because owners are refusing to take scavengers' garbage to processing plants.

Garbage center owners who gathered at the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) office said Thursday they had 200 to 1,000 tons of garbage piled up at their centers.

Salam H.S., an urban campaigner at the forum said waste paper prices had dropped from Rp 400 (18 U.S. cents) to Rp 100 per kilogram.

Cardboard prices have dropped from Rp 500 to Rp 75 per kilogram and plastic prices have dropped from Rp 500 to Rp 50.

"Scavengers are letting waste pile up as they think it is not worth taking anymore," Salam said.

"We fear imported waste is the cause of the price falls," Salam said.

Importing waste was banned last year.

Salam estimated there were 150,000 scavengers in Jakarta who each collect 10 kilos a day for a total of 1,500 tons.

Their work saves the city Rp 25.5 million a day, he said.

Idle scavengers would also add litter to the streets, he said.

"Imagine the pile of waste on our streets after several days if scavengers feel the work is not worthwhile," he said.

Prawoto S. Danoemihardjo, the assistant to the city secretary in charge of development affairs, said the administration allocated only Rp 60 billion a year for sanitary funds.

Jakartans produce 26,750 cubic meters of trash daily, 10.18 percent of that is paper and 7.8 percent plastic.

The city sanitary agency transports only 80 percent of the trash.

Walhi asked the administration to be aware of imported waste which was often developed countries' poisonous and dangerous waste.

Walhi has a recycling program with 350 garbage collectors grouped in the Peduli Foundation. Each collector employs 30 scavengers.

Besides helping the administration collect trash, scavenging is an alternative job for new migrants, he said.

"Scavengers' role in helping to clean the environment is often not recognized by the government," Salam said.

For instance, they are often land appropriation victims, which also makes it difficult for them to resume work. (jun/anr)