Bima City Promotes Economic Value of Plastic Waste Through RAMAH Movement

The city of Bima in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, is actively tackling plastic waste by transforming it into an economic asset through its RAMAH (Wednesday Charity Waste) movement. This initiative goes beyond simple collection, aiming to foster a fundamental shift in public behavior towards waste management, starting from the source.

"This movement is not just about collecting plastic waste, but it is part of an effort to build behavioral change in waste management," stated Syahrial Nuryadin, Head of the Bima City Environmental Agency (DLH). The program encourages citizens and civil servants to sort and manage waste, particularly plastic bottles, from their homes and workplaces. The collected waste is then processed for its economic value.

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This movement is not just about collecting plastic waste, but it is part of an effort to build behavioral change in waste management.

In a recent collection, the DLH gathered approximately 15 kilograms of plastic bottles. This effort contributes to reducing the amount of waste sent to final disposal sites and opens up opportunities for waste to become a source of income. The RAMAH movement is a follow-up to a mayoral decree urging all city employees to collect recyclable plastic waste every Wednesday.

The DLH is collaborating with various regional perangkat daerah (OPD), sub-districts, and villages to ensure consistent participation. "Waste management is not solely the responsibility of the DLH. Collaboration from all regional perangkat daerah is needed so that the habit of sorting waste can grow into a culture," Syahrial emphasized. This integrated approach, from source separation and strengthening waste banks to developing processing facilities, aims to enhance the economic utilization of waste.

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Waste management is not solely the responsibility of the DLH. Collaboration from all regional perangkat daerah is needed so that the habit of sorting waste can grow into a culture.