Gedebage Karang Taruna’s Waste Disposal Machine to be Used in Big Cities in Indonesia

As a response, young people from Karang Taruna of Rancanumpang Gedebage created a simple waste disposal machine.

Ki Dalang, a nickname for the initiator of this machine, told his complex research done with his colleagues in Karang Taruna since 2008. He and his team repeatedly remodel the machine to become more effective and environmentally friendly.

“After the machine is completed, there are several things to fix. It initially created a fume, making it polluting to the environment. After conducting many researches, there is no longer dirty fume produced,” Ki Dalan explained on Tuesday, 1 March 2022.

After that, since 2016, Ki Dalang and his team successfully produced around 50 units of the machine. They were even bought by private parties and the government from cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Tangerang, and Batam.

Ki Dalang emphasized that this machine could process 1,5 ton of waste in 24 hours. People do not have to sort out waste, as all kinds of waste can be processed in this machine.

“Every two hours, we put waste into it. We do not have to sort out the waste, organic or inorganic, since all (waste) can be processed, except those who still have economic value, such as plastic bottles, we sort them out,” he emphasized.
 
The key to this machine is in its blower. It functions to suck smoke in the hearth of the machine. Then, it is distributed to the cooling tub or distillation to filter the smoke to purify it.
  
“The smoke produced by this machine is in the standards established by the Government. It is because this blower is the key. The larger the capacity of the blower, the faster the process of waste disposal becomes,” he said.

The product of this waste disposal is ash that can be utilized as a mixture for fertilizer. In addition, it can be further developed for paving block.

“When waste is put into the hearth with a temperature of 500 C, it will ignite and pulverize the waste. Organic waste will automatically become ash whereas inorganic waste will be pulled into the distillation tub. So, they are automatically separated,” Ki Dalang explained.

So, what about its size? Can it be used in housing areas where space is limited?

Ki Dalang explained that the size of this machine can be adjusted with the place or regions. So, it depends on the location.

“If it is narrow, we can design it based on this condition. This means the adjustment is in the blower, selecting a big one to make the process faster even when the container is small,” he said.

Apparently, the required materials can also be adjusted with the people [buyers]. If they want to use used things that are still functional and can be used, Ki Dalang said that he and his team could adjust with the materials.

“It can use used things, since it depends on the budget. We can adjust it. Out principle is as long as it is simple and flexible,” he said.

While leading to the waste disposal area or tempat pembuangan akhir (TPA) in Rancanumpang, Ki Dalang explained his plans to create a waste disposal machine in Rancanumapang.

He and his team are looking for partners to fund this program.

“This year, hopefully, our proposal can get CSR. So, Rancanumpang residents also have their own machine,” he said. (din)*

The Head of Communication and Informatics Agency of Bandung City

Yayan A. Brilyana