The ITS 3R team showed an illustrative display of the stages of processing plastic bottle waste into multi-purpose items

ITS Campus, ITS News — The issue of environmental pollution due to plastic waste is a problem that many parties are currently striving to address. In response to this situation, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) as a Smart Eco Campus has introduced an innovative idea to process plastic bottle waste into multifunctional items.

Ketua tim ITS 3R selaku penggagas inovasi, Rio Tria Hardhitya SST mengungkapkan, timnya telah melakukan analisis sebelumnnya. Dari analisis tersebut diketahui bahwa banyaknya kegiatan di lingkungan kampus telah menyebabkan adanya tumpukan sampah botol plastik. Hal ini lantaran sebagian besar dari kegiatan tersebut juga disediakan air minum kemasan dengan jumlah yang tidak sedikit.

Berdasarkan temuan tersebut, tim yang juga beranggotakan Rachmawati dan Ricky Asrul Sani AMd ini meluncurkan inovasi berupa gagasan pengolahan sampah botol plastik. Gagasan ini turut didasari dengan penilaian tim bahwa ada dampak berbahaya yang mengintai dari sampah tersebut. “Keberadaan air minum kemasan juga memiliki potensi bahaya di samping keuntungan finansialnya,” tambah Rio.

ITS 3R Rio team leader Tria Hardhitya SST shows off the Inovboyo 2024 award certificate which his team won as third place winner in the Community category.

To address this problem, the ITS 3R team’s idea involves processing plastic bottle waste into multifunctional items through a series of recycling stages. The plastic bottle waste will be cleaned through washing and drying processes. Once clean, the waste will be shredded into small pieces using a shredder.

Rio further explained that these shredded pieces are then molded into plastic boards through a melting process in an oven. These boards can then be used to create multifunctional items such as tables, chairs, souvenirs, and other useful products. “So, the waste can be reused in new, more useful forms through processing,” said the educational staff member from the ITS Department of Information Technology.

Previously, the ITS 3R team calculated the potential amount of waste generated from campus activities using a simple calculation table. By evaluating 16 activities ranging from small, medium, to large scales, the team found that the total plastic bottle waste generated could reach up to 424 kilograms. “This large figure also indicates the significant impact that can result,” added Rio.

ITS 3R team members, Ricky Asrul Sani AMD (left) and Rachmawati after receiving an award certificate at the Inovboyo 2024 exhibition at the Surabaya Youth Hall Building

These findings further encouraged the realization of the idea that had been planned since 2023. The ITS 3R team believes that plastic bottle waste, whether in small or large quantities, can cause a chain reaction of impacts and risks. If not properly processed, plastic bottles can pollute the environment and destabilize the earth’s ecosystem, leading to the worst impact—climate change caused by plastic degradation.

According to the plan, the ITS 3R team will collect plastic bottle waste from campus units that organize activities. These units can request the collection of plastic bottle waste through an application that will be designed or via WhatsApp messages with a minimum of 200 bottles. “The collected plastic bottle waste will be processed according to the established recycling stages,” explained Rio.

Thanks to this innovative idea, the ITS 3R team won third place in the Society category at the Inovboyo 2024 event held by the Surabaya City Government last week. Rio stated that their idea aims to bring sustainability and positive impacts to the surrounding environment. “We also hope for the support and participation of the academic community on campus to realize the positive impacts of this idea,” concluded Rio with hope. (ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: Ahmad Naufal Ilham