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community in North Jakarta has turned garbage disposal into a lucrative business, simultaneously helping the municipal administration with an increasingly large and complex problem.

Community unit (RW) 4 in Semper Barat subdistrict, Cilincing, North Jakarta, runs a garbage bank with both financial and environmental benefits.

Ami, a local 44-year-old housewife, for example, said she used to ignore garbage in the neighborhood, as long as it was not in her own home, but now actively sought it out.

'€œWhenever I see a tin can, I always pick it up and bring it home,'€ she said at the Kenanga Peduli Lingkungan Garbage Bank (BSKPL) near her house recently, indicating a bag of tin cans she had brought with her.

Participation in the garbage bank program, Ami said, had allowed her to earn money for her family. '€œI had never had a bank account, but now I have one,'€ she said, laughing proudly while waiting in line to weigh her haul.

The mother of five said that she had managed to earn a total of Rp 280,000 (US$20.44), a lot of money for her. '€œI won'€™t withdraw the money, even in an emergency. I'€™m saving it for when my youngest goes to junior high school,'€ she said.

Ami explained that she stored trash she collected at home, sorting it herself so the price would be higher. Tin cans fetched Rp 8,000 per kilogram at the bank, she added.

Residents of RW4 have signed up in droves to the program, which is organized by personnel of the Community-Based Total Sanitation (STBM) program and humanitarian organization Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI), attracted by the prospect of financial gain at the same time as making their neighborhood a cleaner place.

Wahana Visi Indonesia is the Indonesian branch of World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization that helps people regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity.

One new participant is Surip, a 49-year-old tailor who began submitting refuse to the bank three months ago. '€œI'€™ve been collecting used plastic bottles for a while but I always used to exchange them with roaming trash collectors for kitchenware like plates or bowls,'€ she said.

She added that she preferred submitting the trash to the garbage bank as she received direct cash payment. '€œPlates and bowls are easily broken, and at the bank I can save money,'€ she said.

Surip said she would spend the money at next year'€™s Idul Fitri holiday. '€œIt will be great if I can buy fruit syrup with the money,'€ she said, referring to the popular holiday drink mix.

Unlike Ami, Surip said that she allocated specific time to look for garbage. '€œI usually walk around my neighborhood collecting trash after dawn prayers,'€ she said.

According to BSKPL manager Sugeng Triyono, as of September, the bank had around 180 clients, meaning that the program, initiated in March 2013, served around 180 households in RW 4, or around 2,000 people.

'€œWe provide a sack to each house for people to dispose of garbage such as plastic bottles, cups, paper, tin cans and any iron or other materials. Our staffers collect the garbage three times a week,'€ he said, adding that participants could also bring their garbage to the bank themselves.

Sorted and clean garbage received higher payments, Sugeng said. '€œThe price ranges from Rp 2,500 to
Rp 8,000 per kg,'€ he said.

The bank, he added, which is manned by 12 staffers, sorted and packaged the garbage to be resold to dedicated collectors. '€œWe also recycle it, but only on a small scale,'€ he said.

He explained that the bank made a profit, which was used to pay staffers'€™ allowances. '€œThanks to the money, we can be financially independent, without funding from the city administration,'€ he said.

The bank also cooperated with other entities, including Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), to allow residents to use the money they earned from the program to pay utility and other bills, he went on.

'€œWe have a mini ATM here where residents can pay their bills,'€ he said, pointing to an electronic data capture (EDC) machine.

The main challenge faced by the program, Sugeng said, was convincing residents to submit their trash to the bank, rather than roaming trash collectors, a popular practice.