Kwitang Residents Trade Waste for Nutritious Food

Residents of Kwitang, Senen, Central Jakarta, are eager to trade organic and inorganic waste for nutritious food and cash.

Reduce waste piles in residential areas while improving food security

The initiative, launched by Kwitang Urban Village Head Ferry Zahrudin, aims to reduce waste piles in residential areas while improving food security for residents across the nine RWs in the area.

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Ferry said waste collection and weighing will be held every Friday morning in the courtyard of the urban village office.

"Residents can bring in their waste at their convenience. They can also use the door-to-door collection service at each RW post," Ferry said on Thursday (9/3).

He said the initiative, which began this week, is being carried out in collaboration with TP PKK, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) partners, and the Kwitang Urban Village as a follow-up to Governor's Instruction No. 5/2026.

Under the program, residents can bring in inorganic waste collected over a week and receive Rp4,000 per kilogram, while organic waste is valued at Rp3,000 per kilogram.

"The collected inorganic waste will be sold to scrap collectors. Meanwhile, organic waste will be sent to the Central Jakarta Environment Sub-agency to be processed into liquid and solid compost, as well as feed for maggot cultivation," he explained.

He said the collected organic and inorganic waste will be valued in rupiah and can be exchanged for nutritious food such as vegetables and tubers.

"We are evaluating the waste-for-nutritious-food exchange program, which could also be expanded in the future to include basic necessities such as cooking oil," he added.

Meanwhile, Sherly, a resident of RW 04, Kwitang, welcomed the initiative to exchange collected waste for nutritious food.

"I believe more Kwitang residents will be motivated to sort their waste at the source and exchange it for nutritious food," she said.

According to her, most residents are not concerned about how much money they earn from depositing waste at the Kwitang Urban Village Office.

"Most residents in Kwitang are focused on reducing waste in their environment, rather than how much income they can earn from it," she said.