Four People Who Make Waste Conversion Cool
Waste conversion is cool.
At least in Bali, it is.
Bali, the Island of Gods, is one of the world’s pristine tourist destinations. It is currently under the threat of an unmanaged waste system. The end of the journey for most trash pickup ends up in an open landfill. The improper treatment pollutes the island’s groundwater which consequently affects the health of the residents.
How is waste conversion cool again? It is cool, as its positive impacts, benefiting local communities in so many levels; from economic participation, energy creation to even independent agriculture. If it can result in prosperity, why are we not converting waste in Bali — or in this case, any parts of the world?
Some of us have, and Bali has several of them.
These individuals below are the waste pioneers, people who care highly about the environment and use their opportunity to rejuvenate the island from waste.
Let’s find out more about them and what they have done so far to manage the island’s waste!
Dr. Ni Luh Kartini from Bali Organic Association
For Dr. Kartini, waste is gold.
Dr. Kartini is the Head of Laboratory of Soil Biology, Soil Concentration, and Environment of Udayana University’s Faculty of Agriculture. She established Bali Organic Association back in 1998 to encourage villagers to convert their own organic waste to be natural fertilizers instead of using chemical ones.
Dr. Kartini said, “We constantly encourage composting solutions at home, rather than sending our organic waste to landfill.”
As a farmer’s daughter, she noticed the change in farmers’ methods compared to her time back in the 1970s. She remembered the time when her father began to pick up the usage of chemical fertilizers.
Dr. Kartini separating liquid and solid organic waste, which will be convertible to fertilizers.
Using the Bali Organic Association, Dr. Kartini encourages farmers and their families to separate their own organic and inorganic waste at home. She educates them that their organic waste is convertible to be solid and liquid compost, usable to grow healthy farms. Dr. Kartini also emphasizes the need to use spatial design to maintain food security, especially in Bali, as a tourist destination.
“The purpose of this movement is to return to nature, as no life necessities will be fulfilled without it,” Dr. Kartini smiled, “All this time, the environment has been sitting at the bottom of the importance ladder, and we are working rigorously to push it back to the top now.”
Gus Nara from Griya Luhu
We quoted our opening line from Gus Nara; “Waste conversion is cool.”
Gus Nara is a Gianyar, Central Bali native who heads Griya Luhu, a community that helps Bali’s waste management. Through the community, Gus Nara then founded three waste banks in his village and built a mobile app focusing on waste treatments.
Mandhara Brasika, as he is also known, tries to open the minds of Balinese youth to support the island’s health.
“Ever since I found Griya Luhu four years ago, I have been trying to engage the youths here, by bringing up the existence of this ‘invisible issue,” Gus Nara continued, “Waste management is actually a global issue, and I’d like to start it from home.”
Gus Nara in landfill
In 2018, he was also a part of the government’s advisory team to restrict the use of single-use plastics. He constantly tries to educate the Balinese youth about waste, and possible recycling of trash, starting from handicrafts to even energy conversion. He plans to invite youths and women to take part in rejuvenating the island’s beauty.
“We collaborated with youth and women organizations for education and practice,” Gus Nara smiled, “We energize the youth by telling them how cool it is to bring positive impacts to the environment.”
Olivier Pouillon from Gringgo Trash Tech
Olivier Pouillon founded Gringgo Trash Tech with Febriadi Pratama back in 2015, intending to positively change Bali’s urban waste crisis and the consistent ocean plastic issue for the Balinese communities. Gringgo Tech collaborated with middle-sized waste collectors to automate the collection and disposal of waste from different streams.
“Most urban strips of Indonesia produce 27,000 tons of waste a place, and it comes without a waste management service,” Pouillon stated in an interview, “The country comes second in plastic production after China, with the only fifth of the size.”
Pouillon arrived in Bali back in the 1990s to work with Wisnu Foundation, which was the first to formalize Bali’s waste management system. He continues to bear the torch with his own startup, Gringgo Trash Tech, which recently received funding from Google and Coca-Cola. His plan is to realize waste circulation and build recycling centers using technology.
The technology is currently undergoing several testings.
“Indonesia’s current president has brought a lot of changes into waste management,” Pouillon explained, “And we’re continuing the work by building a mobile app with artificial intelligence to help manage the trash in Bali.”
Olivier Pouillon calls himself a Professional Trash Talker, whose plan is to infuse technology in Gringgo Trash Tech’s waste management system
Julien Uhlig from EX Venture
Julien Uhlig recently released Zero Carbon, a portable waste conversion system that changes how communities turn waste into valuable resources. The two machines, X5 and X50, had undergone development and laboratory tests for the past 15 years. The patented Zero Carbon system runs on organic and inorganic waste in blended form. It converts them into clean energy used for household necessities, including electricity, heating, cooling, other household necessities, and biochar. Biochar is a chemically stable, effective carbon sink, which sequesters carbon dioxide from the ground soil atmosphere for generations.
“We’re having waste fuel to shape the future to generate energy,” Uhlig said, “The technology turns non-utilized trash into clean energy with maximum efficiency and minimum cost.”
The system uses the process of gasification, in which these portable plants combine mixed waste streams and convert them into a natural gas replacement for power generation right on-site. The pilot machine has arrived in Bali’s Udayana University in the south of Bali. The area has been negatively affected by massive waste, which slowly erodes its reputation as a pristine vacation destination.
“We aim to have communities processing their waste and use it like electricity or thermal energy,” Uhlig smiled, “Seeing waste as a valuable resource is going to revolutionize the way we live.”
Check out how Zero Carbon will be suitable to tackle unmanaged waste problems on a small scale here, and EX Venture’s other projects here.
