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KBRN, Lhokseumawe: Some residents in the city of Lhokseumawe still view waste negatively. Meanwhile, in other regions of Indonesia, people have started to see the positive side of waste because it can actually have economic value.
This was stated by the Head of the Chemical Engineering Study Program (Ka Prodi) at the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Malikussaleh (Unimal), Dr. Ir. Rozanna Dewi, M.Sc, accompanied by the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Dr. Baidawi, on Tuesday afternoon, June 6, 2023, when speaking at the Disaster Response Dialogue (Kentongan) of RRI Lhokseumawe about Managing Economically Valuable Waste.
Dr. Rosa (as Rozanna Dewi is commonly called) also said that waste, especially plastic waste, if discarded, will not biodegrade or decompose even in 1,000 years.
"So, if we do not change our habits or just dispose of it in landfills, it can become a serious threat to the environment. Whereas in other regions, plastic waste is already being shredded, sorted, and processed into paving blocks, briquettes, furniture, and so on. Even if discarded in landfills, plastic waste will remain there and will not decompose. Moreover, if it is thrown into water reservoirs such as ponds, ditches, or drains, it will clog the water channels," she explained.
Research conducted by various universities in Indonesia and around the world shows that only 9 percent of plastic waste is newly processed. This means that plastic waste discarded by its users can reach billions of tons worldwide every year.
"If we line it up, plastic waste would already cover or dominate the surface of the earth. So, what can be done now is, first, education to facilitate the process of managing and processing plastic waste," added Dr. Rosa.
The Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at Unimal, Dr. Baidawi, stated that when talking about waste, there are indeed two sides: negative and positive, although now many people still view only the negative side.
It is further exacerbated by the behavior of our society, which still disposes of waste carelessly. On the positive side, waste has economic value because it can be processed.
"The problem is that it has to start with the family. First, there needs to be education on which waste should be sorted. In Lhokseumawe, for instance, when there is heavy rain, it immediately floods. One of the causes might be waste clogging the drains. Recently, I also saw in the Darussalam street area, as mentioned by the acting mayor, the gutters were being opened, and quite a lot of waste was found, removed using heavy equipment and trucks. This might be due to the behavior that causes plastic waste to clog the drains," said Dr. Baidawi, who is commonly known as Bay.
Regarding organic waste or non-plastic waste, we can also treat it by digging holes in the ground, burying it for several weeks, and turning it into organic fertilizer useful for agriculture. Source
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