Average Income and Repayment of Debt in a Society of Waste Pickers: The Case of Bantar Gebang in Indonesia

Abstract

With the rapid increase of waste generation in many developing countries, international donors and researchers have indicated the necessity of incorporating existing informal recycling systems into the operations of formal municipal solid waste management. This paper presents data related to 1) the average household income obtained from waste picking, 2) income sources other than waste picking, 3) repayment of debt to the boss in Bantar Gebang, West Java, Republic of Indonesia. Data were obtained from qualitative and quantitative field surveys conducted for a total of 808 days from February 2010 to January 2018. The average household income of a waste picker was USD 211.3. At least, six kinds of work associated with waste picking exist in the site. The total amount of debt repayments was within 20% of the total income. The average amount of saving was about 10% of the total income.