Indonesian Province to Recycle Tsunami Waste

Wendy Angel

Banda Aceh, Indonesia – Up to 30,000 tsunami survivors in Indonesia will be employed in a province-wide project to sort and recycle waste caused by the recent tsunami. As part of the project, set to begin within a week, the Indonesian government and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will work together to vaccinate workers and give them protective clothing so they can sort the plastic, metal, bricks and timber that is strewn across the province after the tsunami destroyed entire villages. The metal and plastic will be sold, and shredders and rock crushers will be used to break down organic waste, which will be used to fill in holes where earth had been washed away.

The UNDP has estimated the volume of rubbish in Banda Aceh alone to be 7 million to 10 million cubic meters, which normally would have taken 20 years to accumulate.