W

hile many people in Greater Jakarta might not care about separating their organic household waste from their inorganic waste, some others think that doing so is a big deal. These environmentally conscious residents, however, have started to feel that their efforts in separating waste have been useless after having found out that in the end, all the waste is collected together, only to end up in landfills.

One of the environmentally friendly residents is Shafira Amerta, 22, a Jakarta-based private employee who usually separates her organic waste from inorganic waste everyday. She, however, was disappointed when she found out that her effort was meaningless as the waste got mixed together again in a garbage truck once workers from the sanitation agency came to collect the garbage.

“The inorganic waste can be recycled to not end up only as garbage. When I take out my garbage, it is not merely because I want to get rid of it, but I also hope for the garbage to be turned into something useful,” Shafira, a Depok resident, told The Jakarta Post recently.

This realization, which shocked Shakira as she used to live in Canada where separating household waste was a common practice, prompted her to find any institutions or companies to manage her waste in more a sustainable way.

She later decided to use Bekasi-based service Waste4Change to collect her garbage in the hope that it could be recycled or reused. She did not mind spending Rp 175,000 (US$13) per month to pay for the service.Established in 2014, Waste4Change is a company that provides waste management services from upstream to downstream.

Waste4Change itself has managed 1,200 households in a housing complex and 10 individual customers, the company’s operation manager, Annisa Paramita, said. Individual services began in January this year.

“Paper and inorganic waste will be managed by Waste4Change’s partner to be recycled,” Annisa said, adding that organic waste was processed to become compost by the company itself.

Shafira’s action, however, is not easily carried out by other people. Several residents in the Vida Bekasi housing complex where Waste4Change is appointed by the complex developer to manage the residents’ waste admit that they still face difficulties in sorting their waste consistently.

Tatu, 37, for instance, said she sometimes had no time to sort between paper, organic and inorganic waste. “Honestly, it is a little bit difficult to do so. But it is just a matter of habit,” she said, adding that as time went by she might find the process easier.

Tatu is aware that plastic waste needs to be separated as it can be recycled, while organic waste can be turned into compost.

Another resident, Meno, 57, said it was too complicated to separate the three kinds of garbage.

“Just sort it into wet and dry garbage. That would be a lot easier,” Meno said, adding that he believed only organic waste was useful as it could be turned into compost.

The biggest challenge for Waste4Change was that they still had to separate the collected waste as not all residents knew how to properly sort between organic and inorganic waste. “We keep telling residents to sort their garbage. We also have spokespeople, who are also residents,” Annisa said.