A young man in Belawan, Medan City, North Sumatra, is utilizing household plastic waste and used office plastic to recycle and create high-quality, valuable items such as a set of tables and benches, garden lights, and even bus stop structures.
The initiative stemmed from a desire to protect the environment from the contamination of household and office plastic waste in the Belawan area. Tom Sinaga, a young resident of Asahan Street, Belawan I Village, Medan Belawan District, Medan City, Indonesia, recycles discarded plastic waste into beautiful and high-quality items.
The recycling process begins by collecting the leftover plastic to be recycled. The collected plastic is then fed into a grinding and incineration machine. After the plastic has melted, it is poured into long iron molds to produce solid plastic blocks measuring 2 meters. Each plastic block requires 25 kilograms of plastic waste.
From these block-shaped plastic bars, Tom begins to unleash his creativity, crafting a set of Garden Tables and Benches, Folding Chairs, Mini Galleries, Garden Lights, and even Bus Stops. According to Tom Sinaga, the plastic recycling process is not too challenging, as the raw material, the plastic waste, must be dry and uncontaminated by liquids or other types of waste.
Tom hopes that the plastic blocks from the recycling process can serve as an alternative material to replace wood and at the same time advocate for the cessation of tree felling, aiming to create a sustainable environment in the future.
Tom and his colleagues are awaiting the results of laboratory tests to ensure the safety of the recycled plastic products. They also hope for support from the local government to aid their efforts in creating a better environment for the future.
