Sorting Waste, Reaping Gold
Andi Prasetya, 45, of Pasir Putih in Jambi works as a construction worker by day and “gold collector” by night. He enthusiastically sorts plastic waste to be exchanged for gold bars.
After participating in the “Sorting Waste, Saving Gold” program for two weeks, he had already collected Rp 498,000 (US$35.37) in his waste savings account. He estimated that he would be able to buy a 1 gram gold bar next week.
“If I have Rp 700,000 [in my account], I will be able to buy 1 gram of gold. It’s not bad for investment,” he said on Tuesday (23/4/2019).
Andi is used to collecting plastic waste. He often finds plastic waste lying around on the roadside and at the construction project site where he works. He then sorts the waste and takes it to the Dream Waste Bank managed by a youth group on Jl. Haji Kamil in Wijaya Pura, South Jambi district. From this, Andi can pay for his children’ school.
More recently, the Dream Waste Bank and the Jambi branch of state pawnshop PT Pegadaian collaborated to exchange the waste savings accounts for gold bars. “Many were interested in the program. They are glad to be able to own gold just from sorting waste,” said Dream Waste Bank initiator Yudha Tryanto.
Other than collecting waste, the Dream Waste Bank’s end goal is to process plastic waste into valuable goods. Used or damaged shopping bags, plastic ropes and plastic sacks are melted together with sand waste, used cooking oil and engine oil to become concrete blocks.
The recycled concrete blocks are sold at Rp 1,000 per piece. Demand is high. “I have an order to fill a backyard,” Yudha said.
People in community unit (RW) 010 in Derwati subdistrict, Rancasari district, Bandung, West Java, launched another initiative to reduce waste. They transform the waste into usable products.
As a result, no plastic waste, including used snack wrappers or shopping bags, lie around. Used bottle caps are neatly arranged into art products in the form of butterflies, birds or fish. These are displayed neatly in a vertical garden near a children’s playground. Flower pots made from plastic balls are hung by the field’s fence.
“Plastic waste does not go to waste here. Every house in the community unit is registered as a client of the waste bank. This means that the waste bank has more than 400 clients in the neighborhood,” said RW 010 head Slamet Riyadi, 59.
Clients of the waste bank can earn money. Some can earn as much as RP 900,000 in a month in line with collected waste, especially used plastic bottles and snack wrappers.
Payment instrument
The Surabaya city administration has implemented a unique way to resolve the city’s plastic waste problem. In the past year, the Bus Suroboyo service has accepted used plastic bottles as payment. For a one two-hour trip, passengers can pay with 10 used 240-milliliter glasses, five used 600-milliliter bottles or three used 1.5-liter bottles.
Pipit Maulida from Rungkut, Surabaya, said the Bus Suroboyo had given residents an alternative in managing plastic waste. Those who used to deliver household waste to local waste banks in their neighborhood now have the option of using the waste to pay for a bus ride.
“Based on the prices, it is better to exchange plastic waste for Bus Suroboyo tickets than to give them to the waste bank,” Pipit said.
When the bus began its operation in April 2018, it only had hundreds of passengers per day. Nearing the end of the year, the number of passengers was up to 1,000 per day. “After one year in operation, the number of Bus Suroboyo passengers grew to around 3,600 per day,” Surabaya Transportation Agency head Irvan Wahyudrajat said.
Surabaya mayor Tri Rismaharini said plastic waste was a serious problem as it took long to decompose even after hundreds of years. “If not managed properly, plastic waste can destroy the environment,” Rismaharini said.
Initiatives and commitments by the people and local governments are important in managing plastic waste for the sake of a better future for the Earth. (RTG/SYA/AIN/OKA/ICH)