A Model of Managing Waste

KOMPAS/REGINA RUKMORINI

Enti Sri Hardani

There is no better way of changing the behavior of other people aside from leading by example. Realizing of this, Enti Sri Hardani, 59, promptly took action. As she tried to raise her neighbors’ awareness about waste, she set an example by sorting waste on her front terrace.

Enti is an executive at the Bougenville Organic Village and Waste Bank in North Jurangombo subdistrict of South Magelang district in Magelang, Central Java.

She has set a complete example for local residents since 2015, when she removed all potted flower and vegetable plants from her terrace. To extend the area she could use into the garage, Enti sold her car.

So, there are no more flowers or ornamental plants at the front of Enti’s house. One side of her front yard is filled with various kinds of inorganic waste, ranging from paper and cardboard to plastic bottles. On the other side is a wooden cabinet with shelves to store bottles of eco enzyme liquid and maggots. The front part of her house has now entirely become a space to hold the activities of the Bougenville waste bank.

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Although her house looks a little untidy, Enti said she was satisfied, as she had achieved what she wanted to. Residents who pass by her house and notice her activities inquired about waste management and became interested in getting involved. “My terrace has finally turned into a space to familiarize people with sorting waste,” she said on Friday (1/7/2022).

Since 2013, Enti has been facilitating environmental activities in her village. After repeatedly trying to popularize her waste management methods and being ignored by her neighbors, her efforts to set a direct example on her front terrace has finally gained a response and made a positive impact.

While the village’s residents were previously unwilling to sort their waste, many people today, especially those from nearby neighborhoods, supply inorganic waste to the Bougenville Waste Bank. “From 5 a.m., when I go out to the front yard, many plastic containers and buckets filled with waste are lined up on the road in front of the house,” she added.

Today, however, she collects up to 1 ton of waste per month.

In 2014, she only received around 60 to 70 kilograms of waste per month. Today, however, she collects up to 1 ton of waste per month.

Along with 10 members and executives of the Bougenville Organic Village and Waste Bank, Enti frequently joins training workshops on making eco enzymes, compost, breeding maggots and making handcrafts from recycled waste.

She shares all the knowledge and skills she gains with whoever is interested, for free. Visitors who are interested in gaining knowhow and participating in the training workshops come from different regions, including Demak, Semarang, Salatiga and Yogyakarta.

Caring for waste

Enti said she was used to sorting waste for a long time. Originally, she sorted only inorganic waste and sold it to junk traders. In doing so, she gradually realized that even waste had economic value.

In 2013, the Magelang municipal administration started pushing to implement its organic village program at every community unit (RW). It also required every organic village to have a waste bank.

KOMPAS/REGINA RUKMORINI

Enti Sri Hardani

As the environmental facilitator in her RW, Enti was tasked with carrying out the activities of the organic village and waste bank. The RW then provided a vacant plot located on an alley for sorting and processing waste.

Despite her job as a state civil servant of Magelang regency, Enti said she was happy to continue to manage her community’s waste. She had long been annoyed with the people who lived near her house, as they still mixed their waste and put it out on the side of the road for collecting by the garbage truck.

To fulfill her responsibilities as an environmental facilitator and executive of the waste bank and organic village, she kept trying to encourage her neighbors to sort their waste first. She also frequently demonstrated her dedication to waste management by unhesitatingly gathering inorganic trash that littered the road.

If she was still a long way from home, she would return to he spot by public transportation to collect the waste.

Returning home from her office by public transportation, Enti would also be “on the alert” and get off the vehicle whenever she saw inorganic waste like plastic piled up alongside the road. If she was still a long way from home, she would return to he spot by public transportation to collect the waste.

“Several neighbors said at the time that they were embarrassed by my behavior, while others said I did it out of sheer boredom,” she recounted. But she paid no heed to such comments.

Accepting all waste

Enti said her waste bank was now open to receiving waste from anywhere in both Magelang municipality and regency. “We never refuse any waste,” she said.

The waste bank receives waste from not only households, but also a number of shops and restaurants.

Enti’s efforts have the full support of her husband, Bambang Edi Nugroho, 65. Bambang, also an executive of the waste bank, often acts as a “scout”, either alone or with Enti, looking for businesses, new vending stalls or restaurants to “recruit” as suppliers of waste.

When the waste is ready but cannot be delivered to the couple’s house yet, Bambang is willing to arrange for its collection. “Usually, the waste is transported by carts,” he said.

KOMPAS/REGINA RUKMORINI

Enti Sri Hardani

The Bougenville waste bank has in two trash carts as its “official vehicles”. These carts are connected to a motorcycle that is driven by Bambang.

Ever since the waste bank started breeding maggots in early 2022, the search for waste has been expanded to organic garbage that will be consumed by the maggots.

Enti Sri Hardani

Born:Magelang, 5 Sept. 1962

Education:Bachelor’s degree, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Tidar University, Magelang

Husband: Bambang Edi Nugroho, 65

Child: Odiaz Bomma, 26

Occupation: Finance Manager, Bougenville Waste Bank

(This article was translated by Aris Prawira)