recycling
Recyclable material cycle
Our approach focuses on the material cycle, in which recyclable materials are collected, processed, recycled and reused to create a closed loop. In this way, we aim to reduce the amount of waste, conserve natural resources and reduce our environmental impact.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
What is recycling?
Recycling describes the process of turning unusable waste into something new.
The aim is to return the new use to the economic cycle and increase reuse. This can be realized in five different ways :
- Reuse: Here, used products are reused in their originally used form. Examples of this are returnable bottles that can be refilled up to 50 times.
- Material recycling: Waste products are made up of different materials that are reused here. Z. For example, the components of PET bottles are not only used to produce new PET bottles, but also other products.
- Chemical recycling: The waste is broken down into its individual basic materials. As a result, polymer chains can be separated into plastics, allowing oil to be recovered. This form of recycling is particularly suitable for heavily soiled plastic made from different types of plastic.
- Energy recovery: The incineration of waste releases new thermal energy that can be used to generate electricity. Waste incineration is not counted as recycling under the German Packaging Act and the EU Packaging Directives.
- Upcycling: This is a reverse case. In this way, something of high quality is produced from inferior material. The food industry in particular is active in this area, using chemical processes to produce bioplastics from food waste.
Garbage collection
Three waste collections for the region!
A recycling system without waste collection is like an Ecobrick without plastic waste. For this reason, Destana, Bukit Lawang Green (BLG) and Preman Nasi Bungkus (PNB) take care of the waste in the three regions of our project area: Gotong Royong, Perumahan and of course Bukit Lawang. Three times a week, they go out to collect the garbage from public bins and private households.
However, these bins had to be distributed first. There was nothing like this before. The inhabitants of the region were forced to dispose of their waste themselves. The waste was either disposed of in a huge “landfill” or openly incinerated. Thanks to the work of Destana, BLG and PNB, we have been able to fundamentally change this. Thanks to regular awareness campaigns, we have been able to improve the pre-separation of waste types in recent years.
An awareness of the benefits of effective waste separation has developed, making the work in the further recycling process easier. The inhabitants of the three regions are also happy that they no longer have to worry about disposing of their waste.
Well pre-separated, the plastic, paper and residual waste can then be transported to the “Sumatera Trashbank”. Here, the waste is sorted once again before it is cleaned and processed further (see Trashbank🡪 link).
The organic waste is taken to Erna’s Ecofarm. There they are processed into compost in order to use their valuable nutrients for permaculture gardens and reforestation.
The work of Destana, BLG and PNB is a mainstay of local waste management and goes far beyond the collection of waste. It is only through educational work and cooperation with the local government that we create permanent structures and sustainable awareness on the ground.
In this way, we can ensure the efficient recycling of waste in the long term in the sense of a circular economy.
WASTE MANAGEMENT
TRASHBANK
Anzala’s dream is now being realized on an old garbage dump: his home region of Bukit Lawang is to recycle almost 100% of its recyclable waste in the future! In 2020, he built a trash bank together with Project Wings to ensure that waste management works.
The Sumatera TrashBank is the linchpin of our recycling system: BLG, Preman Nasi Bungkus and Destana (the waste collectors) regularly take the waste from the project region there. Villagers can of course also hand in their garbage here, independently of the garbage collection service, and in some cases exchange it for money. In this way, people learn that plastic waste in particular has a value as well as other uses. When new waste arrives at the Trashbank, the different materials are separated, cleaned and dried. In order to subsequently recycle larger quantities of purified materials, some companies buy the plastic waste pressed into blocks in order to use it for new manufacturing processes.
The Trashbank is the most important pillar within our recycling system and provides the region and people with completely new opportunities in the field of waste recycling.
Waste management system
WASTE
DRIVE
Imagine you had to take responsibility for your own garbage all your life. Nobody wants to live in mountains of garbage. So many people around the world burn, bury or dispose of their waste in their environment – because nobody cares. So it’s no wonder that our oceans are suffocating from the masses of plastic.
There was also no adequate waste management system (waste and recycling system) in our project region. We are now funding the work of three groups that act as garbage collectors. With the help of various vehicles, they drive to the three regions, set up public waste garbage cans, talk to people about their use (waste separation) and the benefits, and take responsibility for their waste away from them. This is because the waste is now collected by all three groups three times a week and taken to the Trashbank. This means that residents are no longer forced to “dispose” of their waste themselves.
A BOTTLE FOR MORE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION!
ECOBRICK
DEPOSIT SYSTEM
In fall 2018, Project Wings started with a simple question: “How can we motivate people to pick up their garbage instead of getting rid of it in different ways?”.
Ecobricking is a very simple technique that allows plastic waste to be compressed and given a new shape. This involves collecting soft and mostly thin plastic waste from households, rivers and forests, cleaning it and then drying it. These films, packaging and bags are then inserted into PET bottles with the help of a stick. This process is repeated until solid “Ecobricks” weighing around 500g are produced. Simply put: Ecobricks are plastic bottles that are filled with mostly non-recyclable plastic waste (e.g. mixed plastics, such as aluminum-plastic mixtures) until they are stable and hard.
Since 2018, people in and around Bukit Lawang have received IDR 5,500 for every Ecobrick produced. That’s just under 40 cents in Germany, but in Indonesia it means a whole meal. In this way, the Ecobrick fan system gives all people who want to create something for themselves and the world an additional income!
TEAM ACTIONS that are good for the environment!
MONDAY CLEAN UP
We love Mondays!
Since 2020, the Project Wings team has been gathering every Monday with the cooperation partners and local volunteers to free Bukit Lawang and the surrounding regions from plastic waste! To do this, they take on a new area every week in order to clean up the environment thoroughly step by step. The type of clean-up is just as varied as the terrain: from river clean-ups to ditches and forests.
The collected garbage is then taken to the Sumatera Trashbank.
THE LARGEST RECYCLING VILLAGE IN THE WORLD
To prevent plastic waste from spreading further into the environment, we put it in plastic bottles! Thanks to our innovative construction method using local and mostly natural materials, plastic waste is given a new use as a building material.
Since 2019, a special place has been created at the gates of the Sumatran rainforest. Here, global challenges are communicated in a tangible way and solutions are established. People, nature and animals are helped in this holistic project concept.
HELP US!
If you find our concept worth supporting and would like to provide humanitarian aid as well as nature and animal protection, then join us and become a Wings Member! In this way, you help to preserve the earth for future generations and create a holistic and self-sustaining system.