Wiwin Iswandi Djola
Other projects
9 Feb 2018
Making the Change Makers to Reduce Plastic Marine Debris in Saleh Bay, Sumbawa, Indonesia
In Indonesia, waste remains a huge challenge as the population continues to grow. According to the National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP), around 72% of plastic pollution in Indonesia originates from mismanagement in the rural regions and small to medium-sized cities. The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) estimated an average monthly plastic debris leakages in Indonesia of 113.6 ± 84 g/m2 (Cordova et al., 2019) or equivalent to 0.40 Mt/year assuming plastic debris is most prevalent within 3 meters from Indonesia’s coastlines.
Marine debris poses direct and indirect threats to marine ecosystem functioning through habitat deterioration (Hammer et al., 2012; Moore, 2008), disease on coral reef (Lamb et al., 2018), entanglement (Reid et al., 2013), and ingestion (Lavers et al., 2019; Rochman et al., 2015).
Briquettes ready for laboratory analysis.
Labuhan Bajo Village in Sumbawa District, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia has allocated their village budget for waste management since 2018. The budget covers provision of three-wheelers, waste bins, temporary landfill, and incentives for a local youth group to collect the waste from homes to landfill. However, they have not managed the waste collected. Therefore, this project will pilot locally managed waste facility using the bio-drying method in Labuhan Bajo Village and improve the local community’s capacity to monitor the impacts of the biodrying implementation on marine water quality through collaboration with Marine Science Study Programme and Forestry Study Programme of University of Mataram.
This waste management facility using biodrying method will reduce the amount of waste discarded to the sea and the volume of the waste in the landfill. With the established facility, the local community will be able to turn waste to energy (briquette). The waste briquette will provide passive income for them (if used by themselves) or active income if sold. Monitoring activities are parts of increasing the awareness of the wider public in Labuhan Village on the impacts of marine litter on marine water quality. Better waste management is expected to improve the marine water quality and the seagrass and coral reef ecosystems around the village.
Header: Drone view of Labuhan Bajo Village to spot waste accumulation spots.