Bandarlampung, Ekuatorial – Entering tenth day of fasting month of Ramadhan, waste volume has been increasing significantly, said an official, in Bandarlampung.
Bandarlampung Sanitary and Park agency recorded 10 to 20 percent rise to a total of 850 tons of waste per day.
“If we observe trend from previous years, waste volume tend to rise up ahead of Idul Fitri,” said Siswanto, chief of Sanitary sector at the agency.
Furthermore, he said that the waste was dominated by organic waste from households and non-organic, such as food and beverage packaging.
As a result, he encouraged people and food sellers to minimize plastic uses.
In a separate place, Setiawan Abadi of Bakung Landfill confirmed the rise of waste volume during fasting month.
“During Ramadhan, economic transaction is rising which also trigger increasing waste volume,” said Abadi adding that the landfill could no longer contain domestic waste anymore.
“It’s only 15 hectares and 14 meters deep while there’s more than 800 tons of waste per day. If people don’t sort out their waste, we have no idea what’s going to happen in the future,” he said. “In addition, we’re entering a very dry season. One small spark fire can ignite fire [in the landfill.” Eni Muslihah