Fostering Public Collaboration in an Urban Waste Management: Lesson Learned from an Environmental Startup "Nyampah" in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan

Abstraksi

The emerging population and escalation of needs trigger a multi-fold challenge related to waste management. It specially occurs in urban area where population density is high and facility establishment is intense so it provides a little to no landfill; let alone a complex waste management infrastructure. This paper highlights the implementation of collaborative urban waste initiative with the use of mobile technology by an environmental startup “Nyampah” in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. This paper will particularly examine experiences and constraints of “Nyampah” application from which other similar initiatives can learn and fine-tune their approaches. Established and launched in August 2017, Nyampah officiates its business model in connecting waste producers (households/industries) to Waste Banks, where the inorganic waste will be treated. Integrating educational mission, Nyampah urges individuals to sort their waste before delivering them to Waste Banks. Although this initiative has attracted stakeholders, its growth and adoption rate almost reach a steady plateau while the expected benefits are still marginalized. Upon conducting series of FGDs and end-user evaluation with questionnaire: mentality aversion or avoidance, technological gap, and readiness of the entire operational chain raise concerns in campaigning and engaging public participation from end to end. Thus, improving waste management practices should be deployed comprehensively and in a close loop model. Effective practice is not attainable if it only focuses on supply side. Therefore, emphasizing on the demand side of waste will stimulate the waste management process to operate; and in return, fostering public collaboration with noticeable impacts on environment and economy.