The behavior of buying food beyond what was needed was a bad habit for people who were already more prosperous.
By
SATRIO PANGARSO WISANG GENI/ALBERTUS KRISNA/ M PUTERI ROSALINA
·5 minutes read
It was 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon. Scorching, muddy leachate and the stench from the mountain of garbage mixed together, decorating the activities of hundreds of scavengers in zone 3 of the Bantar Gebang Integrated Waste Disposal Site, Bekasi.
This condition did not dampen the enthusiasm of the scavengers to search for any garbage that came from all over Jakarta. From every new pile of garbage that came, there was something they could collect.
The amount of energy drained during the search for garbage often made scavengers look at food waste that was still fit for consumption. As was done by one of the scavengers, Rohadi, 47, who found a packet of torn bread and devoured it on the spot.
"Food that is still decent like this, yes, is eaten," said Rohadi.
Not far from where Rohadi was looking for paper and cardboard, Sarmi, 45, and Adim, 40, enjoyed pastries they found in clear plastic bags among the piles of garbage.
Food that is still decent like this, yes, is eaten.
"Just eat like that. If we are a little hungry, lazy to go downstairs to buy rice, yes, whatever is eaten, the important thing is to be healthy," said Sarmi.
Adim even added that not only ready-to-eat food but raw materials, if deemed feasible, could be brought home.
"Never mind the food, fish, chicken, if it's still good, yes, take it home and cook it again. The important thing is not to let the fish turn blue. If it's blue, it means it's not worth it, right?" said Adim.
While Rohadi, Sarmi, and Adim often eat food that is still considered proper to fill their stomachs while scavenging, Engkar, 43, liked to look for packaged food and ready-to-cook food on the sidelines of sorting paper and plastic waste. He often gets packaged food directly when a truck arrives at the Sumur Batu Integrated Waste Disposal Site (TPST), Bekasi.
"I didn't have the courage to go to a high mound. I got this near the street. Like sausage, I often take it if I find it; it can be fried," said Engkar while chewing banana chips. A packet of banana chips was also the result of a rescue from a pile of garbage.
There was a hint of pride when Engkar showed the various objects he had found. A bottle of honey, instant pudding mix, dried macaroni, a bag of almonds and a pack of taco shells. There was also a packet of Korean gochujang sauce.
For Engkar, there was nothing special about these imported foods. As long as there were no holes in the packages, they were still fit for him to eat.
Food security
For Rohadi, Engkar and other scavengers, taking action to save food that might still be edible from the garbage heap is a survival strategy. According to the chairman of the National Solid Waste Coalition, Bagong Suyoto, scavengers are also a concrete symbol of vulnerable groups of food security.
“So, how do they get enough food? One of the ways is looking for leftover food that can still be used for daily consumption. It's an attempt to survive," he added.
What the scavengers do is not without risk. According to a report from the local health center, Bagong explained that the garbage in the waste disposal site was the source of several diseases.
"The danger is invisible, but dirty air causes acute respiratory infections, dirty water can cause dysentery, vomiting or itchy skin," he said.
Most of those who throw out the trash are rich people, not poor people.
"That is, when they are 40, 30 years old, they are still healthy. They're still great. Eating without washing their hands. They don't think that methane, carbon dioxide and other substances really affect their immune system; for example on their lungs, their physical growth. Later, when they are 50, 60 years old, the symptoms will start to appear," said Bagong.
Food waste is indeed the largest category of waste generated every day in Indonesia.
Nationally, based on data from the Environment and Forestry Ministry's National Waste Management Information System (SIPSN) in 2021, food waste accounts for more than a quarter of the waste generated every day. This has also decreased from around 40 percent in 2019.
However, when examining the 10 largest waste-producing metropolitan areas in Indonesia, food waste on average takes up a portion of 53.8 percent of the total waste generation. Looking at the data from TPTS Bantar Gebang, every day on average it receives more than 3,300 tons of food waste or about 43 percent of the total 7,700 tons of waste that is piled into one giant garbage mound.
The composition of food waste, which is higher than the national average, also occurs at the Sarimukti waste disposal site in West Bandung. Of the approximately 1,100 tons of waste that enters the landfill every day, as much as 43 percent or 473 tons is organic or food waste. This waste comes from Bandung city, Cimahi city and West Bandung Regency.
Bagong said the behavior of buying food beyond what was needed was a bad habit for people who were already more prosperous.
“Most of those who throw out the trash are rich people, not poor people. [Poor people] are still struggling to eat three times a day. They even have to look for leftovers,” said Bagong.