Waste

The accumulation of untreated organic waste poses serious challenges, such as foul odors, health risks, and environmental degradation. To tackle these issues sustainably, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (UNY) has developed a community service program led by a team from the Department of Physics Education, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA). The initiative utilizes nanotechnology—specifically carbon-based nanomaterials—to transform organic waste into solid and liquid plant supplements, aiming to create a zero-waste community within a circular economy framework.

Plastic waste is one of the most alarming environmental problems. The amount of plastic waste generated by the community is quite large, so it needs efficient management so as not to cause adverse effects on public health. This problem concerns a group of UNY students who process it into eco-bricks. The eco-brick program is an alternative to plastic waste management. It can be done by collecting plastic waste and then putting it into bottles densely to become eco-bricks that can be used as building materials.

"So far, we only eat watermelon partially, while its rind is thrown away as waste. The white layer of watermelon rind has fresh greenish-white flesh that tastes fresh, contains water vitamins, and has many benefits for various diseases," said Ahmad Widi Nugroho on Friday (8/9).

Five Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta(UNY) students have developed an innovative balance bike made from jute fiber. The bike serves to train cycling balance for early childhood.

The five students who made the balance bike include Rokhmad Syarifuddin (Mechanical Engineering Education), Alvy Zalyaputra Hermawan (Manufacturing Engineering), Dani Nurdiansyah (Manufacturing Engineering), Priesca Rahmanita (Management) and Desinta Auliya Arsa (Management). During the development process, the student team received guidance from Dr. Mujiono from the Faculty of Engineering UNY.

A team of UNY students consisting of Yustina Rahma Sari, Linda Oktafianingsih, Brina Gamelisa, Kiki Adisti, Rahayu, Tiar Rahmasanti, Arief Kurniawan, Fani Maulana, Muhammad Raihan A and Tria Adelia succeeded in processing banana stems into chips. "After harvesting bananas, banana tree trunks are cut down and rotted. People mostly have not used banana stems, so the stems have no economic value. Therefore, we are interested in making food innovations from banana stems," said Yustina Rahma Sari.

Isti Yunita, M.Sc., Ph.D., lecturer in the Department of Chemistry Education, UNY, recently became a visiting professor at the Department of Mining and Metallurgical Institute, Satbayev University, Kazakhstan. Isti had the opportunity to teach about "Green Catalyst for chemical transformation: The need for sustainable development". Isti explained about the manufacture of catalysts from egg shell waste to overcome the problem of plastic bottle waste, so that it can be concluded from the optimization of waste to solve waste problem.

The Piyungan integrated waste disposal site receives about 300 tons of daily waste every day. Based on the findings of the Environmental Office of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, each household produces around 0.7 to 1 kilogram of waste per day. Cumulatively, every day 100 garbage trucks dump garbage in Piyungan. Without proper management, this can trigger various health problems, damage to marine ecosystems, and air pollution.

Volcanic activity in Indonesia sometimes causes eruptions accompanied by volcanic ash, which causes a decrease in air quality in the area around the mountain. The decrease in air quality by volcanic ash is caused by chemical gases such as CO, NO2, and SO2, so any long exposure to volcanic ash may cause acute respiratory infection (ARI). Unfortunately, the N95 masks that the public has used have not effectively filtered volcanic ash less than 300nm in size. In addition, the polymer content made from plastic in N95 masks is prone to waste that is difficult to degrade naturally.

UNY students made a wallet with a security system that will inform the owner when the wallet is more than 10 meters apart from its owner. Uniquely, the wallet is made of banana midrib fiber, given a Javanese letter pattern. They are Asni Muslimah (Clothing Engineering Education), Annisa Nurfatimah Febrianti (Accounting Education), Annisa Alimah Ufairoh (Physical Education), Latifah Nur Khasanah (Chemical Education), and Atiqotul Maula Al Farihah (Sociological Education). According to Asni Muslimah, they made the smart wallet because many people still use conventional wallets.

Household waste is one of the most crucial problems nowadays. In big cities, waste is a significant problem that is still difficult to solve. Based on the type of waste itself, it is divided into two parts: organic waste, which can be decomposed with the help of micro-organisms, and inorganic waste, which cannot be decomposed naturally. The problem of waste in urban areas is an issue that is still considered very important to study about its solution. We need technology to help the community manage waste, especially plastic waste.