People enjoy exchanging rubbish for gold

Exchange 70kg of recyclable waste (about 4,500 cans), people will get 1 gram of gold. The "exchange for gold" initiative of the Wijaya Kusuma Recycling Bank in north Jakarta, Indonesia aims to reduce waste to the environment.

Roswanthy Suweden, 67, is one of the active participants of the program. She collected enough cans and recyclables in exchange for more than 10 grams of gold.

Sulistiowati was happy after receiving 5 grams of gold from the exchange program for gold - (Image: Channel news Asia).

"I am very happy. I save little by little and over time I have many cans in exchange. This gold I give to my children and grandchildren , " she said.

The director of the north Jakarta environmental agency, Slamet Riyadi, praised the initiative to exchange rubbish for gold for attention, making an important contribution towards raising green awareness in Indonesia - the second largest plastic polluting country. the world after China.

Not only Jakarta, the exchange program for gold is also implemented in other cities such as Palembang, Bandar Lampung and Makassar.

As noted by Channels News Asia, the recycling bank Wijaya Kusuma is managed by a few housewives in the area and is open Tuesday, from 9-12h once every two weeks.

When people bring recyclables, they will be weighed and recorded in each person's savings book. Based on the amount and type of waste, customers will get cash back right here. 1kg of cardboard and paperboard is paid for 1,200 rupiah (US $ 0.08), 1kg of clean plastic bottle costs 3,000 rupiah. Aluminum cans each cost 10,000 rupiah.

If people want to get gold, people may not get cash each time they exchange garbage. When they accumulate enough amounts, they can go to gold shops to exchange for gold. One gram of gold costs about 700,000 rupiah ($ 50) at the present time.

Mr. Muhammad Supardi was pleased to be able to contribute to reducing waste with the Recycling Bank in north Jakarta - (Photo: Channel news Asia).

The initiative to exchange rubbish for gold attracts the attention of not only housewives but also men and office workers. Muhammad Supardi, a 70-year-old retiree, said: "I like to support government programs and initiatives. If garbage is valid, why are we thrown away?"

The program has contributed to change behaviors and made people more active in recycling. Mr Indra, who first visited the recycling bank on his way to work, said: "I joined this program to reduce waste. Many women told me to join the program here instead of throwing away the What else can be recycled. "

Budi Winarko, one of the founders of Wijaya Kusuma Recycling Bank, said: "If you calculate the amount of garbage a person needs to collect in order to receive gold, the prize has no big financial value for them."

However, it is important that the recycling bank's exchange program for gold has promoted widespread environmental awareness in the neighborhood.

Garbage collected from people is then sold to the garbage treatment plant of the north Jakarta government - (Photo: Channel news Asia).

"Our short-term goal is to have more people involved in recycling and reduce waste. Our long-term goal is to be free of waste," said Mr Winarko.

Environmentalist Muharram Atha Rasyadi, who works for Greenpeace Indonesia, concurred that the success of the recycling bank depends on environmental education activities for the people. In addition, the ultimate goal is that people change their habits and focus on thoroughly treating other sources of waste, such as organic waste of their families.

The recycling bank also has a recycling truck every two weeks in residential areas from people who don't have time to take the garbage to the collection point.