UNS — The Research Group (RG) Vocational and Mechanical Engineering Education (VMEE) of the Mechanical Engineering Education Study Program at Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta conducted a community service activity with the theme “Empowering Local Communities to Help Solve Plastic Waste Through Education and Recycling Solutions” as part of the UNS International Community Partnership Program (PKMI) 2023. The partners for this community service activity were the Sekolah Alam Solo Raya located in Juwiring, Klaten and the Seamonkey Project, a non-governmental organization from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
During the event, the RG VMEE Team collaborated with the Seamonkey Project to develop a small-scale recycling machine for educational purposes in plastic waste processing at the Sekolah Alam Solo Raya.
As part of the activities, a workshop and demonstration of the recycling machine, developed by the team led by Dr. Indah Widiastuti, were held on 23-24 June 2023. The team consisted of participating lecturers, including Taufik Wisnu Saputra, M.Pd., Cucuk Wawan Budiyanto, Ph.D., and Dr. Danar Susilo Wijayanto, along with several students from Mechanical Engineering Education UNS, namely Abdul Widayat Seno Adji, Erlangga Adji Wicaksono, Eko Bayu Seno, Muhammad Iqbal Amar, Muhamad Andito Yogatama, Muhammad Harist Mishbahuddin, Puthut Alfi Syahri Kurniawan, Ramanda Ridho Barokah, and Linda Widyawati.
The workshop activities took place at two locations, the FKIP UNS V Pabelan Campus and the Candirejo Mosque area, Ngawen, Klaten. Dr. Indah, as the team leader, stated that this community service focused on raising awareness about the environmental hazards of plastic waste and how to manage it to minimize its impact.
Carlos Steenland from the Seamonkey Project shared his experience witnessing the extensive plastic pollution in the ocean during his 11-year journey along the coastlines of Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia. “Plastic waste eventually becomes microplastics that can be consumed by marine creatures, such as fish. In turn, we consume these marine creatures. If animals are contaminated, it will have an impact on our health as consumers,” Carlos said in a release sent to uns.ac.id, Thursday (6/7/2023).
To demonstrate how plastic waste can still be utilized to create useful products, a demonstration of the plastic chredder and injection molding machine was conducted. The students of Sekolah Alam Solo Raya were invited to participate in shredding plastic bottle caps and straws using the shredder until they turned into smaller plastic flakes. This manually operated device does not require electricity and can be easily implemented in schools using human power, such as hand cranking. Subsequently, the workshop participants fed the shredded plastic into the injection molding machine. The plastic shards were heated at a temperature of approximately 220 degrees Celsius for about 15 minutes to ensure complete melting. Then, the mold was prepared and the pressing lever was activated to drain the melted plastic into the mold. After cooling, the mold was opened to reveal the resulting product. In this workshop activity, molds were prepared to create ruler products.
The participants from Sekolah Alam Solo Raya showed enthusiasm throughout the workshop and were delighted to be able to create their own rulers from recycled bottle caps. Each student eagerly tried operating both machines showcased during the workshop. “It was really exciting. I want to make a car,” Zaki said, a student from school.
Riyani, a facilitator from Sekolah Alam Solo Raya said that this activity expanded the students’ knowledge of the significant impact of plastic waste on the environment, not only for humans but also for animals and plants. “This activity provided children with the opportunity to learn through hands-on experiments in recycling plastic waste into reusable products,” Riyani said.
At the end of the session, Carlos Steenland encouraged the practice of 5S in daily life: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot. “It means refusing single-use plastic, reducing excessive consumption, reusing items wisely before buying new ones, recycling and composting organic waste. Carlos also urged the younger generation to be actively engaged in preserving the Earth, starting with small steps. Just start it, and let it gradually grow bigger,” he said.
Through this activity, it is hoped that the population of plastic waste can be reduced and a culture of managing non-biodegradable plastic waste can be fostered, starting at the Sekolah Alam Solo Raya and expanding to other communities. Humas UNS