Currently, heaps of waste in Indonesia have reached nearly 25 million tonnes/year. Of the many types of waste, plastic waste is in second place as the second largest contributor of waste in Indonesia with 16.02% of the total amount of waste. In addition, Indonesia is also ranked 2nd in the world for marine pollution caused by plastic waste. This has resulted in many problems arising, one of which is the prediction that in 2050, almost 99% of birds in coastal areas will be contaminated by plastic waste in the oceans. Another prediction says that in the same year plastic production will increase by 3 times and the amount of plastic will be more than the total amount of fish in the ocean.
From this phenomenon, efforts are needed to reduce unmanaged plastic waste into a product that can absorb large amounts of plastic waste. From the research results, this type of HDPE plastic waste is used for the main material because it is easily melted in heat and has sufficient strength to withstand loads. An analysis of the availability of existing materials is also needed so that the resulting product can use as much plastic waste as possible. The material used is also analyzed for strength and weather resistance. One of the potential products that can absorb a lot of plastic is public furniture.
To develop public furniture products with plastic waste materials, observations were made regarding public furniture in the Surabaya area and public places such as stations and airports, material experiments to determine the physical properties of plastic waste, comparisons between existing products that utilize plastic waste, benchmarking of several furniture and user activity in public areas. From the results of the research, the authors raised the parametric concept to maximize the uptake of plastic waste in one product. The results of this study are furniture designs in the form of sitting facilities with parametric concepts for public spaces. One panel weighs 2 kg, so this design can absorb HDPE plastic waste with a total weight of 80 kilograms.