Kurniawati’s company receives plastic from recycling centres across the greater Jakarta area – which has 30 million people – at its factory in Banten province outside the city.
Then the company exports recycled plastic to European countries and also distributes it locally to be processed and used as packaging or textiles.
Kurniawati resigned from her consultant job to start the firm, tackling head-on the massive challenges faced by the world’s fourth most populous country in dealing with the plastic crisis.
As one of the initiators of the Beach Clean Up Jakarta movement, she saw how Jakarta is littered with plastic waste and was frustrated that little was being done to change the situation.
“OUR PROBLEM”
Hundreds of piles of crushed clear plastic bottles sit piled neatly in the Banten factory, ready to be sorted to make sure no labels or caps are left behind.
The bottles are then cleaned thoroughly to eliminate contamination before being cut into small flakes, ready to be transported to clients for processing and reuse as packaging or textiles.
Fajar Sarbini, a 24-year-old employee, hopes more Indonesians will start recycling.
“People throw away their waste mindlessly, they should at least sort out sharp materials so they won’t hurt garbage collectors,” he said.