Using Waste to Pay for Water, Electricity

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

City workers try to push garbage toward the riverbank of the West Canal in Tanah Abang, Jakarta, on Tuesday (4/12/2018) before heavy equipment is used to lift it out of the water. Some of the garbage that has been dumped into the river is household waste, including plastic and styrofoam.

Residents of Kunciran, Tangerang, Banten, no longer neglect their household waste problem. Creative and environmentally aware, they convert their garbage and use it to earn money to pay for electricity.

Residents of neighborhood unit (RT) 001, community unit (RW) 001, in Kunciran subdistrict, Pinang district, Tangerang municipality, Banten, are united behind the Gawe Rukun waste bank that helps them turn their household waste into a source of income. All of them now sort their garbage at their own homes.

“Residents who are customers [of the waste bank] store clean plastic waste. Money from the waste goes into their savings,” said Tukidi, 54, who initiated and founded the Gawe Rukun waste bank, on Sunday (2/12/2018). The waste bank is managed by Tukidi’s wife Supadmi, 53.

By becoming waste bank customers, residents can get loans in emergency situations, such as to pay for water and electricity bills or to purchase cell phone credit. Customers are also eligible for shares of the waste bank’s profits, which are distributed ahead of the Islamic holiday of Lebaran in line with an agreement between customers.

The waste bank has a simple method. Customers sort their household waste into organic and inorganic piles at their own homes. This way, inorganic waste such as plastic, metal, paper and cardboard remains clean of kitchen waste.

Recyclable inorganic waste is then taken to the waste bank for weighing and valuation. Waste weighing is done from Monday to Saturday on even weeks.

In one week, about 1 ton of waste worth Rp 2 million (US$139) is collected. The waste is periodically sent to a government-run waste bank. About five years ago, the waste bank earned between Rp 2 million and Rp 4 million per month from selling the collected waste.

Of this amount, 10 percent is set aside for the waste bank’s coffers and workers’ wages. Money from the coffers is used for loans, including to customers facing emergency situations such as funerals or baby deliveries. Any excess cash is distributed to customers as bonuses.

The Gawe Rukun waste bank also has an electricity bill payment booth and a cell phone credit purchase booth, where customers use money from their savings for payments. Customers of the waste bank, which is under the supervision of the Tangerang sanitation and parks agency, also process organic kitchen waste into compost. The city administration provides one compost drum for every two houses.

As a result, the homes and the neighborhood are now cleaner and greener. The narrow alleyways are shady with trees and decorative plants. Despite the lack of empty land, locals enthusiastically use whatever small vacant plots are available to grow decorative plants. Pots are neatly lined up in front of fences.

Flood-free

The Gawe Rukun waste bank was established in 2011. At the time, Tukidi and Supadmi started it with full support of the RT leadership.

They used empty land beside Tukidi’s home as a waste processing site. Previously, the land was often flooded and the piles of garbage there made it look disgusting. Every time there was rain, the land would be inundated for days.

“From there, we got an idea. Why don’t we build a waste bank? We can resolve our waste problem, make the neighborhood cleaner, end inundation and the place can be greener and healthier,” Tukidi said.

The idea attracted his neighbors. As time went by, the environmental awareness spread to other neighborhoods in the area. Now, 10 of the 15 RW in the area have waste banks.

The Gawe Rukun waste bank is one of the 5,244 waste banks spread across 218 regencies and cities in Indonesia. Environment and Forestry Ministry waste management director Novrizal Tahar said that waste banks helped reduce waste nationwide by 1.7 percent. They also create jobs and help locals get additional income. However, he said the quality and quantity of these waste banks must still be improved and increased.

The government has pledged its support for turning waste banks into permanent social capital in as community institutions. The hope is that every village or subdistrict has at least one waste bank and every regency or city has a central waste bank that serves to absorb waste from the smaller waste banks.

(Ichwan Susanto)