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Bandung microrecycling initiative for plastic
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Making a difference: Newhun's operational manager Dian Willyarti sorts out plastic supplied by nearby communities in the Cihapit ward, where his workshop was located before moving to Cimahi, West Bandung district. (Courtesy Newhun Archive) (Courtesy Newhun Archive)
P
art of Bandung’s new-wave microrecycling initiative for plastic, Newhun and Trash Smith talk about their journey, contrasting motivations and ideas behind their conduct.
Plastic waste is a perennial problem in this modern world. Every year, plastic waste that could weigh anywhere between 4.8 million to 12.7 million metric tonnes enters the ocean all over the globe. Indonesia released 56.333 metric tonnes of plastic into the ocean in 2021. In Bandung, out of the 1.735,99 m3 / 1.529,04 metric tonnes of daily municipal waste generated per day in 2021, plastic waste takes up 18.68 percent of the volume.
This monstrous chunk of plastic waste that keeps piling up each passing day, however, is largely untreated after reaching landfills and is more likely not to experience further processing or recycling in the future as it lays dormant. Ultimately, due to its mostly non-degradable nature, plastic waste will be a new geological marker for an era in the Anthropocene epoch.
The situation with plastic waste is looking dire. However, a number of new initiatives in Bandung resonated with the sense of urgency around the global issue and have started a new wave of plastic microrecycling movement, sparked, up to a certain level, by the Eindhoven-based open hardware plastic recycling project: Precious Plastic.
This wave of initiatives in Bandung includes Newhun, Trash Smith, Olah Plastic and a namesake Bandung workshop of Precious Plastic. We talked to two of the initiatives, Newhun and Trash Smith, about their journey in the plastic recycling world.
Maelstrom of garbage
It might be the feeling of helplessness that initially set in when Moch Saeful Rizki, Bandung plastic recycling initiative Newhun’s founder, witnessed the grandeur of the Bantargebang landfill in Bekasi, West Java, in 2020.
