Recycling in Bali
This morning’s Jakarta Post had a feature article about recycling. I used to work at a recycling center in California, many years ago and often get frustrated with people chucking their waste out on the street here in Bali.
We all know about the SE Asian haze, the annual smog that blankets part of the region, caused largely by fires in Indonesia. This is all bio-degradable material, that could be composted. The Jakarta Post talked about a fellow bamed David Kuper, who has started a recycling project in Gianyar. Composting is one of his specialties. I love ideas that can be put into action, over a wide area, with little cost. Composting is one idea that the Balinese should pay attention to.
Here’s more fm the Jakarta Post.
David Kuper leads Southeast Asia in recycling research
Trisha Sertori, Contributor, Gianyar
Cutting-edge technology has placed Indonesia in the lead for recycling research in South East Asia.
A pilot recycling plant has been established in the small village of Temesi, Gianyar regency, and according to project manager and scientist, David Kuper, research at the plant may well be the “most advanced in SE Asia.”
A joint project between Gianyar Regency, Temesi village and the Ubud Rotary club, the recycling pilot began in June 2004, attracting funding from the Swiss Government, USAID and the Canadian IDRC.
An initial Rp 1.8 million in project funding was aimed at developing a “replicable waste solution for regencies,” across Indonesia according to Kuper, with the pilot project already picking up a national environmental award for Gianyar regency. A further Rp 1.35 million is now needed to complete a state-of-the-art plant.
“Projects like this are too large for villages, which is why the focus is on regency-wide applications. This is a pilot project for Indonesia that can be replicated in regencies across the nation,” said Kuper.
He added the more than 30 employees at the plant were originally from Temesi village, highlighting the economic benefit of the recycling plant to locals.
The success of the project and its goal of developing aerobic compost has attracted additional financial support via the Kyoto Protocol in carbon credits.
“We attract carbon credits because we are working toward having our recycled compost aerobic, rather than anaerobic. Aerobic compost is living and produces carbon dioxide, rather than anaerobic compost which produces methane gas.
Methane gas is 23 times stronger than carbon dioxide, creating far greater greenhouse gasses,” said Kuper, adding the carbon credit payments covered the cost of the plant’s electricity usage.
Research at the plant is high-tech, led by Kuper with additional scientific support from Swiss Masters student, Raphael Stucki.
Stucki is currently developing waste recycling models that study optimal conditions for the breakdown of organic waste into aerobic compost. Stucki is working in conjunction with Denpasar’s Udayana University and the GUS Foundation on the cross-country scientific research.
As a pilot project the recycling plant receives 40 tons of waste daily, 34 tons of which is organic, according to Kuper, who said that volume would break down to 18 tons of compost over a six-week composting cycle.
The public may purchase 20 kilogram bags of compost for Rp 10,000, a nominal figure, given the high costs of developing the program.
Public recycling education programs have yet to begin, says Kuper, with more work needed on quality collection methods. He pointed out until the collection system was addressed, a public campaign on separating household waste would merely cause frustration, which could result in a negative attitude to recycling.
“We have not yet begun a public campaign for recycling because the collection system is not yet good enough. Waste (glass, paper, organic materials) need to be sorted at the source, which means in people’s homes.
“Because the collection system still needs work it is important not to frustrate people without solutions in place,” Kuper said.
The science being applied at the Temesi recycling plant will one day lead to the development of custom compost, according to Kuper, who said compost of that level can dramatically affect how plants grow while also preventing diseases.
“I dream of tailor-made compost that can stop plant diseases becoming endemic here. But we are still far away from that at this time. It’s still a day dream,” said Kuper, who with his Indonesian and international team is leading the way in recycling in Indonesia.
Here in Seminyak, a truck comes round to each house, and guys sort through the garbages left outside in the collection area. It pure Indonesian methodology, ‘chuck everything into a heap, then sort it out’. They could make their lives easier by distributing plastic collection bins for various grades of recyclables. I’m sure that’s coming later, but first we need a recycling center, on a scale that can process the stuff.