The Trash Collectors of Pedungan and Bubugan

DENPASAR - Pemulung are the trash collectors you see pedaling around town on old bicycles. In the absence of any reliable and comprehensive public waste disposal system, they are the guys who, motivated by economic incentive, essentially do our dirty work. Pemulung, which means ‘scavenger’ in Bahasa Indonesia, also collect on foot, drive trucks, and act as agents who buy and sell and deal in a market of discarded items. From the moment you toss an empty plastic Aqua water bottle, until it resurfaces in a plastics recycling facility in Surabaya, where it is shredded and pelleted and then resold, the pemulung are along every step of the way.

I recently paid a visit to a pemulung area - you might call it a village - in Sesetan, an area of southern Denpasar. The area is home to many pemulung and, in some instances, their families as well. It consists of a shanty town-like assemblage of shacks and heaps of piled waste just off of Jalan Pulau Rote in Pedungan.

The pemulung of Pedungan are relatively small players in a complex system that, when we discuss trash and the island of Bali, involves luxury hotels, buying and selling agents in Bali and Java, public services, various provincial and regency ministries, and you – the reader (if you happen to reside in Bali, or indeed, many other places throughout Indonesia and the developing world).

The pemulung only collect waste that is economically valuable. In Pedungan they collect paper (Rp. 700/kg), magazine paper (Rp. 350/kg.), plastics (Rp. 1,500/kg.), cans (Rp. 8,000/kg.) and glass bottles that are then returned to agents. There are categories and sub-categories of waste, and each has a distinct value that is reflective of its relative importance in terms of re-making a profit from rubbish.

Across town in an area of east Denpasar called Kesiman is another pemulung area. Called Bubugan, the area is home to pemulung from Java, Madura, and beyond. The pemulung of Bubugan essentially collect the same items as those in Pedungan; though supply of rubbish is endless, demand is limited to certain items. Aluminum cans and clear plastics have an intrinsic material value – it is cheaper, for example, to reuse than to remake aluminum - while other items like plastic bags have none.

Though the pemulung, motivated by market forces, essentially provide waste disposal services in many areas around Bali, they are limited by the demands of the market. A major challenge when we talk of waste is not only what type of waste, but what waste is of value and what is not. If it were worth their while to collect all types of waste rather than just some types, this island would be a far cleaner place.