Now, the global economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic has reached even here, adding to the misery. Most recycling companies that buy waste from people who pick the trash have closed their doors, so fewer scavengers are working because they have no place to sell what they collect, says Resa.
“Since the virus has spread around the world, it has made life even harder now,” she says. “Most of them are staying at home because they cannot sell plastic anymore.”
Resa, 34, was 6 when her family moved to the area. Her parents bought a rice field, but it was eventually swallowed up by the ever-growing mountain of trash. At school, other children called her “Princess of the Dump” because her clothes smelled of the landfill. But she excelled in her studies and won a scholarship to attend a university.
She could have been one of the few to escape the landfill for a better life, but she returned to help the families there, especially the children. Now, with the economic slowdown, her organization helps feed 600 families a day.
“People don’t need masks or hand sanitizer,” she says. “People need food to feed their families.”
Although fewer are picking through the landfill, the garbage trucks keep coming. The decline in scavenging means that many items that could be recycled are instead being buried under the incoming crush. Resa hopes Jakarta residents will get the message to throw away less stuff.
“We are telling people in Jakarta, ‘Please reduce your waste,’” she says. “We can’t process it, because we can’t sell it. It just makes the mountain grow higher.”