TURNING WASTE INTO DATA IN MOA ISLAND
The problem of waste is a crucial issue that is being faced by humans this decade. The generation of plastic waste that is difficult to decompose and the awareness to reduce the use of single-use plastics is still minimal, making a lot of waste, and drifting into the ocean. This includes the Moa Island area in Southwest Maluku Regency. The waste generation that continues to haunt us can be prevented by conducting systematic waste management.
To strengthen the community's knowledge about waste management, WWF-Indonesia initiated the involvement of coastal communities in efforts to reduce the use of single-use plastics through the Plastic Free Ocean Network (PFON) program. PFON is a forum for communities who are concerned about waste issues involving coastal communities. This voluntary-based movement conducts many activities, one of which is collecting waste data which is then scientifically processed.
To provide education and community participation in preventing plastic leakage into the sea, WWF-Indonesia in collaboration with the Environment Agency of Southwest Maluku Regency, the Marine and Fisheries Agency of Southwest Maluku Regency, the Head of Wakarleli Village, and all agency representatives conducted socialization and training activities on waste data collection at Wakarleli Village Hall on Friday, November 24, 2023.
Thomas Matmey, Head of the Environmental Hygiene Division of Southwest Maluku Regency, in his speech, revealed that this activity will help participants to be more aware of the types of plastic waste scattered around Moa Island. "The experience to overcome the waste problem with WWF is needed for easier waste handling efforts," he added. In the socialization activity, WWF-Indonesia explained the steps of how to collect waste data using the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) method, this method is used to measure waste generation and composition. After the presentation, the participants were then allowed to practice sorting waste and measuring weight and height with digital scales.
The participants were enthusiastic about practicing waste management, starting from separating waste to weighing and measuring the height of each category. Participants who participated in the socialization and training activities later became part of the Moa Island PFON enumerators.
After the socialization stage, on the next day, PFON enumerators together with WWF-Indonesia team went to the field to collect waste data covering residential areas, hotels, restaurants, and traditional markets in Moa Island area. Waste data collection began by walking through settlements in Wakarleli and Tiakur villages, to collect random household waste samples and continued with waste sampling in other categories. Data collection activities were carried out for eight days to see waste patterns in each category. The two villages were selected because they have a higher population density, easier access, and can represent the daily waste generation on Moa Island.
While the PFON and WWF-Indonesia enumerator teams were walking around the village, communication was also conducted with the residents to find out more about how their household waste management has been. From the results of communication in the field, most residents already know how to segregate organic and inorganic waste, and mainly have segregated plastic waste with household waste. After the data collection period was completed, WWF-Indonesia team and PFON enumerator team then picked up the collected waste in garbage bags according to their sources: households, hotels, restaurants, and markets.
Each bag of garbage was weighed and measured for height. Then, the waste was sorted based on 11 criteria, namely; organic, paper, plastic bottles, plastic cups, multilayer plastic (plastic wrap), multilayer metal plastic (aluminum-coated plastic wrap), crackle, plastic straws, glass, textile rubber, and styrofoam, as well as cans. "Waste categorization is done to find out the types of waste, as well as to familiarize PFON enumerators with sorting waste based on organic and inorganic categories," explained Anisa Setyawati, Marine Tourism Assistant WWF-Indonesia.
Selfi Sairmorsa, another member of the enumerator team, argued that sorting and measuring waste based on composition can provide information on how much plastic waste is obtained in Tiakur and Wakarleli locations, and be an input for the community to reduce the use of plastic waste.
From the results of data collection conducted by WWF-Indonesia together with PFON enumerator team, it can be seen the average waste generation for household and non-household categories. In addition, the average weight and volume of waste types were also obtained. The plan is that the data obtained from Tiakur and Wakarleli will be disseminated into a journal, social media posts, infographics, and books.