1. Hamidah and Saiful (Right) collects and sort through plastic waste, looking for the better-quality materials to sell to a local factory in Sumberejo village, Malang Regency, East Java, Indonesia, May 30, 2025. The village has been inundated by plastic waste imported from such countries as Europe, America, Australia, Japan and South Korea.
Not Our Trash: Indonesia's Struggle with the World's Plastic Waste
Organization: Freelance Photojournalist
Photographer: Garry Lotulung
Organization: Freelance Photojournalist
Exhibit Title: Not Our Trash: Indonesia's Struggle with the World's Plastic Waste
Location: Indonesia
Since March 2019, imported waste from developed countries sent to Indonesia has become a big issue. Most of the waste is plastic, including household products, personal care items, and food packaging. A stack of plastic waste can be found in villages near a paper factory. Several villages in East Java Province have served as dumping sites for imported plastic waste for many years, as well as sorting sites. The villagers used to be farmers who worked on the rice fields. But now, the field has become a dumping ground for plastic waste. Many of the products are recognizable as having been sold in the European Union, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
Plastic has become a form of currency. Tofu factories and Burning lime, desperate for cheap fuel, found it in the endless piles of discarded foreign plastic. Thick, black smoke, laden with dioxins and other toxins, billowed from makeshift kilns, staining the sky and the lungs of the villagers. The once-fertile soil intended for rice paddies has turned brittle and barren, infused with microplastics.
"Garry Lotulung is a freelance photojournalist and documentary photographer based in Jakarta. Lotulung has specialized in stories about the human condition, social change, and environmental crises."
Lotulung focuses on long-term projects about society, people, and environmental threats. “My photographs are chapters of a story waiting to be told,”. “They’re not random snapshots; they’re intentional creations to tell a story.” Aims to evoke emotion and spark conversation: “I want my photographs to challenge assumptions, start conversations, and bear witness to the world’s beauty, struggle, and resilience.”
Among the most pressing issues covered is Indonesia’s waste crisis. His long-term work has ranged from household garbage clogging Jakarta’s rivers to the mishandling of medical waste during the COVID-19 pandemic. More recently, I have shifted his focus to imported plastic waste in East Java, a persistent problem that the government has yet to fully address. My images show people working and living among sprawling landfills, scenes described as “apocalyptic and frightening.” Yet, amid the chaos, I also saw the resilience of people who, despite the risks, collected plastic, textiles, and paper for recycling. “These people are real heroes,”. My project highlights the broader health and environmental impact of the crisis. In some neighborhoods, air pollution from tofu and limestone production—where waste is used as fuel—mixes with wastewater from local recycling operations, creating a hazardous environment.
The goal of this project is to raise awareness, foster empathy, and motivate action to respect our environment because we are all part of the same biosphere.
https://garrylotulung.com/
https://www.instagram.com/garrylotulung/
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