Community-driven waste management

This research focused on the sustainability of community Solid Waste Management (SWM) through a waste bank system. The first part of the research renders insights the operation of the waste banks in Yogyakarta Municipality as well as the motivation of households to involve in the activities. The second part of this research explores the sustainability of the waste banks in the context of the city level based on Integrated Sustainable Solid Waste Management (ISWM) concept. The view points of four stakeholders group are analyzed in this study; the selected waste banks in the Yogyakarta Municipality, the customers of the waste banks, the local authority and the waste buyers conducting waste transaction with the waste banks. The final part highlights the suggestion made by the stakeholders on how the sustainability of the waste banks can be improved. The study was exploratory and explanatory single holistic case study. The selection of sample for waste banks was stratified purposive while for customers of the selected waste banks, it was convenience sampling. Meanwhile, the local authority officers and the waste buyers were purposive. Various literatures and case studies on ISWM were reviewed. Assessment variables and indicators were then formulated as analytic tools to assess the sustainability of the waste activities. The waste system is considered sustainable if most of the environment, social and economic goals are reached. The method of primary data collection involved semi open questionnaires which were conducted on the waste bank customers while in-depth interviews were administered with the waste bank directors, the selected waste bank customers, RW waste collectors, Environment Agency of Yogyakarta Municipality (EAYM) officers, the Ministry of Environment representatives and the selected waste buyers. Review secondary data as well as observation were also applied. The data from field work then were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively assisted by Atlas.ti and SPSS program software in the forms of narratives, tables, chats and images. The findings reveal that the selected waste banks only receive inorganic waste material from customers. In daily operation, the waste banks incorporate an economic value of waste into a community SWM system. To cover the operational costs, the selected waste banks adopt a profit sharing mechanism. In terms of motivation, the majority of customers use an environmental awareness as a main driving force to involve in the waste bank activities. The study also shows that the majority of the selected waste bank operations are sustainable since most of the environmental, social and economic sustainability principles were achieved. An exception is in the Asri waste bank; the Asri waste bank is not sustainable as it failed to fulfill mostly assessment indicators on environmental and social sustainability. In the context of the city level, the selected waste banks contribute to sustainable SWM system in Yogyakarta since they reduce the waste handling and collection costs of the Municipality. In order to improve the sustainability of waste bank operations, a set of suggestion is formulated; enforcing SWM regulation, distributing sufficient facility and equipment, training on making recycled craft products as well as the market creation, raising household awareness on SWM and also providing an additional capital to expand the waste bank operation.