Trash heroes' assemble to slay Jakarta garbage monster

World

Published: 2023-10-16 13:57

Last Updated: 2024-04-29 06:00


Trash heroes' assemble to slay Jakarta garbage monster
Trash heroes' assemble to slay Jakarta garbage monster

Indonesia's capital Jakarta is struggling to cope with a mounting waste problem, with its main dump site approaching capacity.

In response, one group of volunteers - the Jakarta chapter of Switzerland-based group Trash Hero World - has started a movement to clean parks and streets in the city, and raise awareness of the problem.

Garbage is just part of a wider pollution crisis that has seen Jakara top global pollution rankings multiple times in recent months, and an impending sinkage of large parts of the city due to groundwater extraction.

Marten Irfandi, Bantar Gebang waste management spokesman, said: "This landfill only receives waste from Jakarta. On average, the volume of waste that comes here is more than 7,000 tons every day."

"Actually, this landfill is already over its capacity. So if people ask whether this landfill still has the capacity to take more waste, the answer is no. However, we don't have other places yet so we have to make the most of this site," Irfandi continued.

One volunteer, Maria Kristi, said: "This is my first time (joining the clean-up movement). It's fun. People were looking at us wondering what we were doing. Some of them gave their waste to us! But I'm really interested and want to join this activity every week."

She continued: "This community is not too big, only about 20 to 30 people are joining today. But I'm sure if more and more people become aware, because of what this community is doing, our little acts like this can make big changes."

I Gusti Krishna Aditama, leader of Trash Hero Indonesia said:"If you look at the Lapanga Banteng Park, it looks clean. However, if you walk and look closely, there is quite a lot of trash, between the bushes or on the pedestrian walk. This morning, we already collected 19.6 kilograms of waste in only 40 minutes. Imagine how much we could collect if we cleaned the park all day. The aim of this movement is not to clean, but more to raise awareness."

Aditama added: "Waste, even if collected, cannot just vanish. In reality, waste moves to other places like the sea. This is a problem because it can trigger floods or pollute the sea and affect the livelihood of fishermen. Trash Hero calls on people to keep reducing waste and build new habits that reduce the use of plastic waste."