Should we expect a decline in the recyclables industry?
A few years back while interning for the Jakarta Globe , I wrote about Jakarta's sanitation and recycling system. What I found especially unique and new to me in researching for this article, was the entrepreneurial, non-government supported recycling process. Jakarta has no blue or green bins, provides no information on recycling, and does not teach its youngins' the benefits and process of recycling (recall the ubiquitous phrase: "Recycle, Reduce, Reuse"). Au contraire, the main goal behind recycling in Indonesia does not include social welfare-- the individual trash pickers who sort through the city's recyclable materials are motivated by profits to be made. As a market exists there for recyclable raw materials, individuals collect plastics, glass containers and paper to make a profit. Thus, the local government finds little incentive- socially or monetarily- to interfere with this seemingly successful recyclables system. Why spend government funds on a project...