Looking for various crafts from trash? Try to visit Karanganyar Village, Indramayu District, West Java. Starting from the Waste banks or “Bank Sampah” as they are called in Indonesian, garbage are then sorted and managed properly.  At waste banks, the waste created by the household is divided into two categories – organic and non-organic. Organic waste gets turned into compost, while non-organic waste is divided further into three categories: plastic, paper, plus bottles and metal. Those non-organic waste are then  successfully created some handicraft products such as bag to brooch from recycled waste materials, and the results are now being favored by foreigners. The handicraft has been produced by the group of Pembinaan Kesejahteraan Keluarga (PKK Family Welfare Development) of Karanganyar Village. Various craft exhibition programs were also participated by this group.

The existence of the Waste bank in Karanganyar Village has been the result of the action research carried out  by the Center for Conflict Resolution Studies (CARE) of the Institute of Research and Community Empowerment of Bogor Agricultural University (LPPM IPB) in cooperation with PT Pertamina EP Asset 3 Jatibarang Field. The joined researchers team consisted of Adi Firmansyah, Winar Nur Aisyah Fatimah, and Ulfah Mubarokah together with several local cadres of Karanganyar Village community to develop community-based waste management through Waste Bank.

“Almost every year Karanganyar village has been flooded. The village needs a solution so that the impact of loss due to flooding can be reduced, “said Adi Firmansyah.

From June – July 2016, observations for the development of “Waste Bank”  program. The program had been initiated since March 2015. As experts in the field would vehemently argue, solid waste management is not the sole responsibility of a municipal government, but a collective one. As populations grow and consumption patterns increase, more and more solid waste is created, and landfills can only take so much waste! The tem of IPB were exploring how to improve solid waste management, and scaling up ‘waste banks’ is one option. It was aimed at overcoming the trash problems and increasing public awareness on waste management, but now, it is also offering economic benefits to the society. Also included in the respondents are the customers of the “Waste Bank”  who are randomly selected, with the criteria already participated the program for more than six months.

Based on this research, “Waste Bank”  has a positive impact on the beneficiaries of communities and village officials. Some of the visible indicators are the improvement of community knowledge and skills in waste management; and the percentage of waste released  in the river decreases, while the waste saving activity increases. It was also accompanied by an increase in the amount of customer income of “Waste Bank”. Like a regular commercial bank, you open up an account with your local “Waste Bank”. Periodically, you make deposits with your non-organic solid waste, which are weighed and given a monetary value, based on rates set by waste collectors. This value is saved in your account from which, like a regular bank, you can withdraw. The basic principles of waste banks remain the same across provinces: collect, save, earn, change behaviour, and enjoy a clean neighbourhood.

without giving a second thought to whether it is organic or non-organic waste, it’s easy to not care where your garbage ultimately ends up. Environmental awareness and skills were also passed on by the team,  one of which is the processing of fertilizer for organic waste. Armed with the skills of sorting waste, organic waste is collected and converted into organic fertilizer full of benefits that can be used alone. Non-organic waste is divided further into three categories: plastic, paper, plus bottles, they are then generated through versatile home craft program. Some of the products produced are bags, shopping bags, wallets, mats, and pencil boxes that come from packaged plastic wrap. (Wied).

Source: www.ipb.ac.id