Waste management in Ambon!

Hi everyone!

We are Jorian, Olle, Lars and Levi. We are all students at the TU Delft and for our minor International Entrepreneurship & Development we are working together with SweepSmart and Greenmoluccas. We will go to Indonesia, specifically Ambon, located on the Moluccas, with the aim of ensuring that less waste ends up in nature. 

SweepSmart is a social enterprise that sets up waste management centers around the world, providing countries in need with the infrastructure to properly process and recycle their waste. SweepSmart also provides many job opportunities in these local communities. The social aspect, involving local residents, is a key aspect when building these solutions. SweepSmart is now established in 6 different countries, including Indonesia. In Ambon, SweepSmart has already ensured that tonnes of plastics have been kept out of nature. The major problem they are now facing is that the waste management system in Ambon is not yet profitable. If this continues any longer, their doors may need to close and tonnes of plastic will end up back in nature again.

Our mission is therefore to help SweepSmart with our technical background, to set up innovative projects that can provide SweepSmart with sustainable sources of income. If we succeed, we can ensure that SweepSmart continues to exist in Ambon and can expand to new places to keep waste out of nature. However, these projects do require money and that is why we need your help!

During our projects we will work together with Green Moluccas, a local non-profit organization that’s concerned with protecting nature in the Moluccas. Their help with the projects is crucial because a large part of the local population does not speak English. They also have contacts with the local government and have knowledge of the local culture.

One of our projects will be to collect waste from local businesses for a monthly fee. This does, however, require us to invest in containers and there is currently no money available for this. Furthermore, to involve the local population even more in the projects, we want to organize events such as beach cleanups. To make these events more popular and fun, we want to, amongst other things, offer meals to the people who help. Another part of our project is making garbage bags available to the local population. The waste is not yet separated well enough. One reason for this is that most people do not have garbage bags at home and just put their waste in a bag from the supermarket. They then throw it all away at once without separating it. Hence, we want to offer people colored garbage bags with which they can separate the waste. First we want to do this for free and after that for a fixed low amount per month. Finally, we will sell plastic credits on the international market. For this, it is important that all data on how much plastic SweepSmart in Ambon removes from nature is accurate and verified. This requires careful research and data processing and that is where our technical background comes in handy. If this is successful, it will provide a good, reliable additional source of income for SweepSmart, ensuring continuity in the project.

In order to realize all these projects, we estimate that we will need an amount of 3,500 euros to cover the costs mentioned above. In short, we can only do these projects with your help! Naturally, all donations will only go to project-related expenses (not to airline tickets/accommodation, etc.).

We want to thank you for your attention and hope to carry out our projects well, so that SweepSmart will continue to exist in Ambon and much more waste can be removed from nature!