Analysis on economy activities of plastics rubbish recycles package products for informal sector in medan city

Abstract

Plastic waste of package product is one of the inorganic waste types which may pollute the land. One of the solutions that could be offered in the management of plastic waste of package product is recycling. The recycling activities in Medan city starts from waste collectors, second waste collectors to the agent. The method of the research was field survey in the form of interview and observation to 58 agents of recycling. The type of plastics waste of package products was categorized into white plastic, bottle plastic, glass plastic, white PE plastic, atom plastic, mixed plastic and bag plastic. The potential of economy on every recycling activity of waste products varied from each type of the plastics. Recently, potential of recycling for waste products was not optimally conducted since it was considered with low value. In implementing recycling business, there are some hindrances to face ranging from the lowest up to the agents such as the low price of plastic products sale, the limited of storage area and the reduced price with the reason of broken products. The results of research showed that Medan city has the potential for informal sector of waste products recycling. Those persons involved in the plastics waste are those waste collectors up to those agents. Those agents get the highest income compared to others since the amount of plastics waste is bigger and with various types.