Heaven for Scavengers

Heaven For Scavengers

A scavenger wading through a sea of smoking rubbish in search of recyclable material at Jatiwaringin garbage dump in Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia. 08/08/2008 (Images taken between 08/2008 - 04/2009)

More than 500 'scavengers' earn a living from the mountain of garbage at the landfill Jatiwaringin, Kec. Mauk, Tangerang. From dawn till dusk, equipped with a "Gancu" and Cart, they are ready to wade through thousands cubic meters of trash to find valuable waste that they can resell.

They wait for garbage trucks coming into the area of the landfill every day. Once the trucks have arrived, they skillfully fish from the piles, often climbing mountains of garbage as high as 10 metres and despite the risk of being buried under the waste, in the hope of finding a small fortune in the rubbish mountains.

With an average income of only Rp. 200 thousand a month, and the high cost of education, it is hard to send children to school and many children are forced to drop out and join in the scavenge with their parents.

The limitations of education and skills is one cause among many, which forces them to live a life that they may have never imagined. However, their presence is very helpful in alleveating the volume of waste and recycling processes in the landfill.

Heaven For Scavengers

A scavenger wading through a sea of smoking rubbish in search of recyclable material at Jatiwaringin garbage dump in Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia. 08/08/2008 (Images taken between 08/2008 - 04/2009)

More than 500 'scavengers' earn a living from the mountain of garbage at the landfill Jatiwaringin, Kec. Mauk, Tangerang. From dawn till dusk, equipped with a "Gancu" and Cart, they are ready to wade through thousands cubic meters of trash to find valuable waste that they can resell.

They wait for garbage trucks coming into the area of the landfill every day. Once the trucks have arrived, they skillfully fish from the piles, often climbing mountains of garbage as high as 10 metres and despite the risk of being buried under the waste, in the hope of finding a small fortune in the rubbish mountains.

With an average income of only Rp. 200 thousand a month, and the high cost of education, it is hard to send children to school and many children are forced to drop out and join in the scavenge with their parents.

The limitations of education and skills is one cause among many, which forces them to live a life that they may have never imagined. However, their presence is very helpful in alleveating the volume of waste and recycling processes in the landfill.

Heaven For Scavengers

A scavenger wading through a sea of smoking rubbish in search of recyclable material at Jatiwaringin garbage dump in Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia. 08/08/2008 (Images taken between 08/2008 - 04/2009)

More than 500 'scavengers' earn a living from the mountain of garbage at the landfill Jatiwaringin, Kec. Mauk, Tangerang. From dawn till dusk, equipped with a "Gancu" and Cart, they are ready to wade through thousands cubic meters of trash to find valuable waste that they can resell.

They wait for garbage trucks coming into the area of the landfill every day. Once the trucks have arrived, they skillfully fish from the piles, often climbing mountains of garbage as high as 10 metres and despite the risk of being buried under the waste, in the hope of finding a small fortune in the rubbish mountains.

With an average income of only Rp. 200 thousand a month, and the high cost of education, it is hard to send children to school and many children are forced to drop out and join in the scavenge with their parents.

The limitations of education and skills is one cause among many, which forces them to live a life that they may have never imagined. However, their presence is very helpful in alleveating the volume of waste and recycling processes in the landfill.