Processing Waste into Valuable Products

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

Plastic waste is sorted by workers from the Indonesia Project B Recycling Boutique in Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Monday (17/2/2019).

At the hands of groups of young people, plastic packaging waste can be recycled and transformed into valuable products. The business of the plastic waste recycling is carried out under a social entrepreneurship concept involving 350 community groups.

A number of bags, pencil boxes, folders, purses, key chains and imitation flowers are neatly arranged in the display cases and shelves in a boutique on Jl. Sukoharjo, Condong Catur, Depok district, Sleman regency, Yogyakarta.

The craft items in various colors are sold for between Rp 6,000 and Rp 200,000 (about US$15) per piece, depending on the designs and quality. At first glance, visitors would not think that the items displayed in the 4 meter by 10 meter room were produced from recycled plastic packaging waste. Only if you carefully observe could you find that the beautiful handcraft products of multiple colors consist of small pieces of various packs of food packaging.

Hijrah Purnama Putra, 36, and a number of his friends initiated the making of handicraft items from the plastic packaging waste. "We started in 2008. At that time we often hung out at a burjo (green bean porridge) stall or miinstan noodle stalls, we often saw garbage (plastic packaging) thrown away," said Hijrah in his boutique, called Butik Daur Ulang (Recycled Boutique) on Sunday.

Hijrah, who at that time was studying at the School of Environmental Engineering at the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII), realized that his knowledge about processing waste could be used to address the waste problem.

If no one takes care of the plastic packaging waste, it will only end up in the river, buried in the ground, or burned because not many people know how to process the waste. Unlike plastic bottles, the plastic bag waste is not selling well. "Then, later it will affect the environment. So, we try to educate food stall owners to keep their plastic waste," said Hijrah. The plastic waste is in the form of food and beverage packaging. Every Saturday and Sunday, Hijrah and his friends take the plastic waste from the food stalls. After washing and drying them, the plastic waste is stored in a warehouse.

"Within one year, our warehouse is full. We search for information through Google on how to turn the plastic waste into valuable products. From there, we make handicrafts, such as bags or folders, which we then market through social media. Fortunately, it received a good response," said Hijrah.

In the course of time, orders continue to come. In fact, in 2010, Hijrah was able to his sell products to the Philippines. His acquaintance at an exhibition, a visitor from the Philippines, ordered around 50 recycled products, most of them in the form of tote bags and folders. The prices ranged from Rp 20,000 and Rp 150,000 per piece.

Social Entrepreneurship

The business practice is based on the principles of social entrepreneurship. The community is involved in forming a waste bank. At present, there are 350 waste banks, involving between 60 and 80 people each.

Group members are also invited to make recycled products and sell them to the Butik Daur Ulang store. The recycled products made by the community are paid in advance to motivate them to further improve their recycling business. With the efforts, people will be more motivated to recycle plastic waste.

"As much as 30 percent of the profits are returned to the community. Every month, we visit four to five locations to educate the public on waste management," said Hijrah. The people are told how to sort plastic waste. They are also told that plastic waste has an economic value. The people can sell the neat and clean plastic waste they collect to the Butik Daur Ulang store for between Rp 10 and Rp 70 per piece.

By involving the community, the products produced from recycled waste have more variations, reaching 145 types, with a total production of 500-600 units per month. The best-selling products are folders and goodie bags. Buyers are mostly organizers of seminars. The boutique also receive orders from grooms and brides for souvenirs during their wedding receptions in the form coin purses. It once received orders as many as 1,000 pieces.

The waste recycling business has also grown in the city of Bandung, West Java. In addition to being invited to manage waste through a waste bank, since last year, housewives have been trained to make crafts such as table covers, tissue boxes and baskets from plastic drink packages.

The waste, which had previously ended up in a dump, can be recycled into valuable handcraft products that can sell for Rp 30,000 to Rp 60,000 per piece. "The handicrafts from recycled plastic packaging waste are partly purchased by the Environment and Cleanliness Agency of the Bandung city administration. Other buyers also include schools ," said Dewi Kusmianti ,who was assigned by the agency to foster and assist the community in managing waste banks. The activity is part of a movement called Kang Pisman, namely the community movement to reduce, separate or sort and recycle waste.

Three students from the School of Agriculture at Gadjah Mada University of Yogyakarta, namely Yusroni, 19, Junita Solin, 19, and Novia Adisti Putri, 20, have their own ways to reduce plastic waste. They developed an app called Plastic, an online marketplace for the sale of products produced from recycled plastic waste. There are several types of recycled waste that can be marketed through apps that continue to be developed, namely glass, plastic and wood.

In Denpasar, Bali, people can also use the Gringgo mobile app to get information on the location of waste disposals. The app, developed by Oliver Pouillon, cofounder and CEO of Gringgo Trash Tech, and his colleague, Febriadi Pratama, is used by the Denpasar city administration to promote independent waste management. (SEM / COK)