PIKIRAN RAKYAT — Plastic waste in Bandung City is still a major problem today. Although many efforts have been made to reduce it, significant changes have yet to be seen.

West Java waste practitioner Fei Febri said plastic provides many conveniences in people’s daily lives. Therefore, based on her observations, implementing the no-plastic-bag policy in the field still varies.

On the one hand, some shopping stores have successfully reduced plastic bags and replaced them with reusable ones. However, in some traditional markets and small shops, the use of plastic bags is still relatively high.

“Unfortunately, many also make the mistake of providing paid plastic bags or using paper bags. The purpose of plastic is to facilitate humans without sacrificing trees for paper bag raw materials. In addition, information about this policy tends to be better in urban areas than suburban areas,” the CEO of Bank Sampah Bersinar told Pikiran Rakyat on Tuesday, 2 July 2024.

According to Fei, the data shows we have not implemented the no plastic bag policy well. This is evidenced by the volume of plastic waste that tends to remain or even increase due to the lack of government supervision and public awareness.

Fei mentioned several factors that make it difficult for people to avoid plastic bags. One is seemingly trivial habits, such as laziness about bringing their shopping bags. This tends to be difficult to change because plastic bags are usually provided when shopping.

In addition, plastic bags are also more practical and cheaper to use than paper bags or spunbond bags, although both types of bags also end up as waste. Also, many stores do not provide alternative shopping bags that are environmentally friendly.

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Tote bag from Plastic Waste made by Sasbotram
Moving slightly to Cimahi City, plastic waste is also one of the problems. Besides being difficult to decompose, plastic waste production is also relatively high, so it needs to be managed better.

With great creativity, Enung Susanah (52) chose to turn plastic waste into valuable products. This is a form of concern for the environment and empowers the community.

“I try to innovate to turn plastic waste into crafts. I make various kinds of bags such as backpacks, laptop bags, goody bags, totebags, pouches and others,” she said, Tuesday 2 July 2024.

She has been managing plastic waste since 2013. Initially, she established Botram (for skillful people) as an innovation in monitoring and evaluating several Cimahi City Government programs. In 2015, Susan became a facilitator for the Cimahi City Environmental Agency (DLH) in the Waste Management and Hazardous Waste Division until 2020.

Botram then developed into Sasbotram as a plastic waste-based product brand in 2018.

The non-organic waste utilized as raw material for the bags is sachet packaging, such as used coffee packs, instant noodles, and biscuits. This type of waste is often ignored and included in residual waste.

“Following our main goal to reduce waste. We want to extend the life of plastic before it goes to landfill by processing plastic waste into products that can be reused,” she said.

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The process of making bags from plastic waste begins with preparing cleaned plastic sachet packaging. After being cut to a small size, it is placed on top of plastic bags used for shopping or new ones, then laminated by ironing using a heat-resistant polyester that can be stable and evenly distributed.

“To make a bag, you need 4 to 5 pieces of plastic, then you just need to solder or sew them. There is also a prototype machine for lamination if there is a mass order,” she said.

The raw materials are sourced from around the production site, coffee shops in Cimahi City, and the Cimahi City Waste Bank. Once finished, the plastic waste products are priced between Rp50,000 and Rp150,000.

Enung Susanah not only develops her business but also actively conducts educational activities for the community. She is also trusted to be a presenter at activities of various government and non-government agencies in West Java.

“We also want to provide an educational tool for positive behaviour change in managing plastic waste,” she added.

Plastic waste that continues to accumulate will negatively impact the environment if no real steps are taken to overcome it. Through these business activities, she is optimistic that it can reduce waste piles, especially plastic waste from food sachets.*(Politeknik Negeri Bandung/Ahyaithannisa Taufik)