Second Chance for Garbage in Yogyakarta

In the midst of the growing waste management problem in Yogyakarta, a movement of residents has emerged to help manage the waste through social media has succeeded in inviting residents to care more about the environment

KOMPAS/HARIS FIRDAUS

A garbage truck enters the Piyungan Integrated Waste Processing Site (TPST), Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY), Saturday (19/2/2022) morning. Every day, around 600 tons of waste enter the TPST, which is located in Piyungan District, Bantul Regency..

Lisa (48) and his son ride a motorbike carrying plastic bags containing various inorganic waste from their home in Banguntapan district, Bantul, Yogyakarta Special Region on Wednesday (16/2/2022). The bags, which contained used drink sachets and used clothes were taken to the office of Daur Resik, a waste management movement in the Timoho area, Yogyakarta city, for sale.

“This is the first time I have deposited the trash at Daur Resik. Previously, I knew about Daur Resik from Instagram," said Lisa.

Daur Resik (Clean Recycling) is a community movement that promotes waste sorting to residents in Yogyakarta.

By depositing the waste at Daur Resik, Lisa hopes that more waste can be recycled so that it does not have to be disposed of in a final disposal site (TPA). She did not mind doing that even though the money from the sale of garbage at Daur Resik was not much. "I want the garbage not to be thrown away," she said.

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One of the founders of Daur Resik, Maria Sucianingsih, said the movement’s activities began in 2017. One of its programs is to educate the public so that they are willing to sort waste so that the volume that is sent to landfill can be reduced. "We hope that sorting waste becomes a lifestyle," she said.

One of Daur Resik's activities is to purchase inorganic waste, including plastic, paper, metal, glass, electronic goods and clothing. The purchase is carried out on a pick-up point delivery system. With this system, Daur Resik activists only need to come to one location at a certain time to serve residents who come to deposit garbage. The pickup schedule and location are announced via Daur Resik's Instagram a few days in advance.

“We want to give a second chance to trash. If our waste still has a chance to 'live' and be used by others, yes, let it be,” said Maria.

According to Maria, throughout 2021, Daur Resik managed 46.6 tons of waste. During the year, about 1,400 people deposited garbage, 80 percent of whom were women. Apart from Yogyakarta, Daur Resik also purchases inorganic waste in Surakarta city and Sukoharjo regency, Central Java.

KOMPAS/HARIS FIRDAUS

Several cows are looking for food on a mountain of garbage that has been arranged into a terrace at the Piyungan Integrated Waste Processing Site (TPST), Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY), Saturday (19/2/2022) morning. The arrangement of the pile of garbage is one of the efforts to organize the Piyungan TPST which has been carried out since 2020..

Via app

PT Wahana Anugerah Energi also has a similar program to invite residents to sort waste through the Rapel application or People Care for the Environment. Rapel is a mobile application for the sale of inorganic waste.

The head of the Rapel area in Yogyakarta, Yudho Indardjo explained that the Rapel application was launched in April 2019 in Yogyakarta.

After downloading Rapel on their mobile device, residents can enter the type of waste and its weight into the application.

After that, the waste will be picked up by a garbage collector who is Rapel's partner. "The garbage collector will buy it," said Yudho.

The garbage collected by the collectors is then bought by Rapel at a higher price so that the collectors can make a profit. The waste is then taken to the Rapel warehouse for further sorting, and then sold to the recycling industry. Apart from buying garbage from residents, Rapel also collects waste from companies, schools and places of worship.

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Rapel has tens of collectors and thousands of users in Yogyakarta, which manage 26 tons of waste a month. Rapel collector, Florentina Ina Rimawati (50), said she joined because she was worried about the lack of interest from her village residents in Sendangagung village, Minggir district, Sleman, in managing waste properly.

In a month, Ina can deposit hundreds of kilograms of inorganic waste to Rapel. On Thursday (17/2), for example, Rapel employees picked up dozens of types of inorganic waste at Ina's house, including 69 kg of cardboard, 60 kg of filing paper, and 55 kg of duplex. "I don't think much about [profits] because the first goal is to help people manage waste," said Ina.

The head of Yogyakarta Independent Waste Management Network, Bambang Suwerda, said the activity of sorting waste in Yogyakarta must continue to be encouraged to reduce waste being disposed in the TPA. Moreover, in the last few years Yogyakarta has been in the shadow of a waste emergency because the Piyungan Integrated Waste Processing Site (TPST) in Bantul regency is already overloaded.

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.