Bangun, a village built from imported waste

Mon, April 15, 2019 / 01:27 pm

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An Australian flag is put upside down at the pile of waste in Bangun village. JP/Sigit Pamungkas
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A villager is walking on the piles of waste at Bangun village. JP/Sigit Pamungkas
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An elderly woman is sundrying waste in front of her house and the nearby mosque. JP/Sigit Pamungkas
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Motorists pass piles of waste on a villager’s front yard. JP/Sigit Pamungkas
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Villagers sort steel waste after being burned. They would sell it for Rp 1,500 per kilogram. JP/Sigit Pamungkas
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A woman is sundrying the waste in front of her house. JP/Sigit Pamungkas
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A villager is showing the unsorted waste that will be sold to food home industries for firing material. JP/Sigit Pamungkas
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Villagers are waiting for a dump truck to dump the waste before they can sort it out. JP/Sigit Pamungkas
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Villagers are sorting the just dumped waste based on the materials and it can be sold from Rp 500 per kilogram to Rp 1,500/kg. JP/Sigit Pamungkas
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A 3-year-old boy is helping his parents sorting the waste. JP/Sigit Pamungkas
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A villager shows off a 5 poundsterling banknote from the imported waste. JP/Sigit Pamungkas

Sigit Pamungkas

In Bangun village, Mojokerto regency, East Java, villagers are earning a living by waste management. The waste do not only come from neighboring village but from as far as China, European countries and even the United States.

Villagers get the waste from a recycled paper company in the neighboring Pasuruan regency. Each truck of waste costs Rp 500,000 (US$35.7).

Villagers will sort the waste based on the materials and will sell them to distributors. The unrecyclable waste will be sold to food home industries as firing materials. Each mini truck of waste is sold for Rp 200,000.

Since Jan. 1, 2018, Chinese government has banned the import of waste from overseas. In total, there are 24 materials not allowed to enter the country including plastic, paper and textile. This move made countries such as England, the US and Japan – which previously dumped their waste to China – looked for another market.

Indonesia is likely to be the next large waste importer in the world after Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Myanmar to replace China. [yan]