erick taufan
IPMI International Business School
Amelia Naim Indrajaya
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Limbahagia is involving society to support their business on plastic waste management. They engage women and high school students, through waste management education to involve in their main business. Through their program, they can increase the society's welfare by developing the country through women participation.
PT Limbahagia is an Indonesia social entrepreneur, initiated by Indra Noviansyah. Indra said that waste processing business is not only able to gain economic value, but also has a good impact on environment. In developing countries, waste is becoming a huge problem with lack of waste management and waste processing plant. Also even more problem due to the low awareness of reducing the waste from the society. Plastic waste is not a worthless thing, it has an economic value if we can manage it. That’s where he came with the idea of Limbahagia (Happiness because of the Waste).
After learning how to manage the plastic waste, Indra established Limbahagia in Pontianak, East B. Looking for a place for managing the plastic waste is not easy, because the society doesn’t want to have a waste processing plant near by their residential area. People still consider that waste is dirty, smelly, causes diseases and worthless. Finally Limbahagia found a suitable place near the waste collection points. Limbahagia processes plastic waste from plastic bottle, plastic bottle cap and plastic glass. From a small medium enterprise (SME) business, now Limbahagia can export their product to China and open 67 Plastic Waste Plants in other cities in the form of partnership.
Plastic waste business is mostly about sorting the plastic waste from other waste, especially the organic waste, which cause bad smells. Besides sorting the plastic waste from other waste, the next important part of the business is the shredding part. Limbahagia bought a machine for shredding the plastic waste called “Plastic Crusher”, which cost hundreds of million rupiahs as the investment and had to be shipped from Jakarta to Pontianak. This is an expensive machine for Small Medium Enterprise (SME) such as Limbahagia. After all, this machine is needed to make the plastic waste worth more.
The common practice from the plastic waste management in Indonesia is started from the scavengers who collected the waste, including the plastic waste from the garbage bin or the landfill. The scavengers will sort the waste into several types, such as: glass bottle, paper, cardboard and plastic bottle or plastic glass. Afterwards, the sorted waste will be brought to the waste collectors. For plastic waste, the waste collectors will sell this plastic waste to plastic waste processing plant, where the next process is shredding it. The shredded plastic waste will be brought and sell to the plastic factory to process it into plastic end product. Limbahagia was taking part on becoming the plastic waste processing plant, receiving the plastic waste from the scavengers.
Limbahagia had found difficulties on fulfilling its demand on the plastic shredded plastic waste from the plastic factory. To meet this demand, Limbahagia came up with the idea of Limbahagia Waste Bank. Waste Bank idea is not really new in Indonesia, but the idea is not easily accepted by the society, since the economic benefit is so small and not comparable with its effort, and in the end the Waste Bank idea is just a merely social movement for environmental issues.
Knowing this problem, Limbahagia selected several potential areas to be its Plastic Waste Bank Program. This waste bank program is a holistic approach program on waste management, especially plastic waste. Limbahagia will prepare all the procedures and all the society education on handling the plastic waste management, including on how to manage the Waste Bank, owned by the society. The scavengers will become Limbahagia’s employees, who have responsibility to sorting the plastic waste in the plastic waste treatment plant. Even more, Limbahagia had invented theirs Plastic Crusher machine, a small size of plastic crusher, in term of size, production capacity and price. Limbahagia Plastic Crusher is suitable for small local community level usage. This machine will be provided by Limbahagia for the community with the affordable price, and the community is able to pay it in installment payment by trading off with their shredded plastic waste product. This product has higher economic value comparing if the community sell the plastic waste as it is.
Later on, Limbahagia made collaboration with local women community called PKK. PKK (Program Kesejahteraan Keluarga) is an Indonesian national program to increasing family welfare since 1972. PKK usually consist of women who stay in the same area and headed by a woman which usually is the community leader. Limbahagia realize that in most Indonesian families, women play a big part in handling the household issues, including the family waste management and the family finances. That’s why, they are involving PKK in their Waste Bank Program. To change the society mindset, especially the PKK caretaker, Limbahagia did some personal and community approach, including workshops regarding the waste management for the society. After the workshop, Limbahagia and PKK will set a Plastic Waste Bank near the PKK member residential area.
Not only PKK, Limbahagia also did the collaboration with the High Schools to utilized the High Schools students organization, called OSIS, to manage the plastic waste from their schools. To change the mindset from the Schools management and the OSIS caretakers, Limbahagia also did some personal approach and workshop to share this idea, and to enlarge the students awareness on managing the waste. Limbahagia understand that students are the next leaders and the next society generators, that’s why it is important to educate them with the waste issues. In the collaboration with OSIS, Limbahagia set a Plastic Waste Bank plant without any Plastic Crusher Machine.
Like all OSIS, some of the PKK were not ready with the Plastic Crusher idea, but they still becoming Plastic Waste Bank. To handle this problem, Limbahagia will collaborate with other communities that are ready to run the whole package of Plastic Waste Bank program including the Plastic Crusher machine and this communities are the one who bought the plastic waste from the OSIS and PKK. Later on, Limbahagia will buy the shredded plastic waste product from the Plastic Waste Bank Plant. For some places or cities which do not have the Plastic Crusher Plant, Limbahagia will buy the plastic waste from the OSIS and PKK and processing it in Limbahagia Plastic Crusher facilities. Using this idea, Limbahagia can fulfill their demand on the shredded plastic waste products.
Indra as the Limbahagia founder spent his childhood near the Kapuas River in Pontianak. Indra and his friends loved to swim in the river, even though the river was fill with plastic bottle waste. Indra and his friend took the plastic bottle and sold it to the plastic bottle collectors. The kids will use the money to buy some snacks. Started from this point, Indra realized that plastic waste has an economic value, and years later, he create Limbahagia after he learnt about the waste management process in Jakarta.
Limbahagia's effort is able to change the society mindset on how to manage the waste, especially for the plastic waste, and is able to increase the society's welfare. More than that, this idea will bring good impact on the future generations, since the waste management education is taught to women and students which are the important actors to determine the world's future, especially on how to preserve the nature.
On 2013, during The Asean-China Entrepreneurs in Brunei Darussalam, Limbahagia presented their idea in front of all the delegates, and Brunei Darussalam government were attracted to implement the idea in their country and asked Limbahagia to be the operator.
Limbahagia has supported several SDGs, such as Goals no. 1 (No Poverty), because Limbahagia can increase the society welfare, especially the Waste Bank members and the scavengers. And Goals no 13 (Climate Action), because usually the society will burnt out the plastic waste which can cause pollution, but now the society will sell the plastic waste because they understand that the plastic waste has economic value. Limbahagia also support Goals no.5 (Gender Equality) through the participation from women community.
Limbahagia now become a reputable company in handling the plastic waste. Limbahagia waste management system with Small Plastic Crusher is a holistic approach in handling plastic waste by engaging the society as the front liner. Limbahagia can have cheaper price from the society Waste Bank and can fulfill their demand, so Limbahagia shredded plastic and plastic seed product can have competitive price. The society also can have a higher price from selling the plastic waste and additional economic value if they sell in shredded plastic product to Limbahagia.
The society also can have a higher price from selling the plastic waste and additional economic value if they sell in shredded plastic product to Limbahagia. PKK and OSIS can learn how to manage the waste, and especially the PKK can learn how to run a Waste Bank business. After knowing the economic value of the plastic waste, the society will no longer carelessly throw away the plastic waste in the river or in the other places, or burned it nor buried it, because they can sell it and get some money from it.
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