Among numerous environmental challenges in the ASEAN region, the rapid growth of volumes of waste and a complex waste composition is one of the prominent challenges. In Indonesia, the amount of waste tends to increase because of population growth, industrial development, urbanization, and modernization are increasing as well. Organic waste is a type of waste that has the largest proportion of 60% of the total waste. Surprisingly, the household is the largest contributor of waste but only less than 1% of them sorted and managed their waste (National Socio-Economic Survey, 2014). Those are why Indonesia got predicate as the second largest waste contributor country in the world in 2015. The 3-R behavior (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and the composter tools both using aerobic and anaerobic technique is the most well-known solution but it has obstacles in its implementation. There are many people who do not implement the 3R program because of the lack of facilities that support 3R and the composting process requires expertise, regular monitoring so that it requires considerable time and effort so that not everyone can do it.

The lack of waste management and facility in Indonesia motivates us to create Wastebender that strives to realize the zero waste and sustainable consumption and production ecosystem in Indonesia through technology and smart data. Wastebender actualizes the responsible waste management by creating an integrated electronic device that can transform organic waste into organic compost easily, quickly and efficiently called Automatic Waste Processor (AWP). By targeting the household, urban farmer, planting community, plant hobbyist, eco-concept residences, restaurant, hotel, and corporate as its market, Wastebender encourages them to manage their waste independently to realize the responsible waste management in upstream level and also the circular economy in Indonesia. This business was founded in early September 2018 and it has been working in Sidoarjo & Surabaya, East Java.

Wastebender creates AWP technology that allows customers to process their waste independently to make ready-to-use compost. Unlike ordinary compost that requires expertise, long time to process, regular monitoring, AWP makes it easy to reduce the organic waste because the composting process will run automatically. In the process of using AWP, customers and their families will also get the education on how to sort waste, how to make compost and how to use compost to improve soil quality and grow crops so they will apply the 3R concept and responsible consumption in their daily lives. AWP can also calculate customer efforts in protecting the environment because AWP is equipped with features that can calculate the amount of waste and methane gas that has been successfully reduced and the number of composts that are made each month which can be accessed using the android application. In addition, AWP will not produce unpleasant odors when the composting process takes place because AWP is equipped with a carbon filter that actively absorbs unpleasant odors from the composting process.

Wastebender also provides post-product waste management in collecting the non-used compost and inorganic waste and transform it into recyclable products by empowering our beneficiaries, the waste picker or pemulung and women around Wastebender so they will have additional income to encourage the prosperity of their family.

Smart2Recyle

Wastebender is a tech startup realizing sustainable consumption & production ecosystem in Indonesia.

Wastebender is a social and recyle-tech startup creating a smart waste-to-recycle electronic device, Automatic Waste Processor (AWP), that can transform organic waste into compost easily, quickly and efficiently to bring the zero waste and sustainable consumption & production ecosystem into life. This device has gone through a series of research and trials that are adapted to the composting process, composting parameters and compost standardization so it can do composting well and automatically. It has a minimalist design with dimensions of 35cm x 30cm x 40cm so it is very suitable to be placed in the kitchen. The waste capacity is adjusted to the average waste produced by households in Indonesia, which is 1.5 kg (derived from each family produces waste of 2.08 kg/day, of which 60% is organic waste of 1.248 kg/day) so the capacity of AWP answers the requirement to process organic waste at the household level. This device consumes a low power of 300 Watts so that it can be used on households with 1300 Watts or below. This device is also easy to operate because the user only needs to put the waste then press the "compose" button and wait for 3 hours and the waste has turned into ready-to-use compost. Wastebender also provides post-product waste management in collecting the non-used compost and inorganic waste and transform it into recyclable products by empowering our beneficiaries, the waste picker or pemulung and women around Wastebender.

The team that makes up the company is a broad one with key experience in the environmental sector and electrical device development to support the ease of human activity. The team now consists of:

1. Mohammad Naufal - @mohammadnaufal (Founder and CEO) combines the four years of experience in climate change and waste issues in KOPHI and YFCC with his electrical engineering background to give him the combination of scientific and automation knowledge to solve the waste problem to bring this project into reality.

2. Bangkit Hadi Utomo - @bangkit (Co-Founder and COO) has a Bachelor Degree in Industrial Electrical Engineering. He has experience as a project engineer in the industrial paper manufacturing sector. Bangkit has been focused on scaling the production and operation process from lab scale to market.

3.	Arif Dharmawan - @arifdh (Co-Founder and CTO) has a BASc in Mechatronics Engineering and industrial experience in 3D printer and IoT device. Arif’s experience has been invaluable in getting Wastebender’s production and R&D process optimised.

Our goal is to encourage all of the waste contributors to manage their waste independently and realize the zero waste, sustainable consumption & production and also the circular economy in Indonesia. Specifically, Wastebender has four main impacts including:

1. Economic Impact (turning the waste into an economically viable product, creating new job opportunity)

2. Environmental Impact (reducing the organic waste & methane gas emissions, producing organic compost)

3. Social Impact (empowering waste picker and women around Wastebender to process the waste, increasing their income and improving their welfare)

4. Lifestyle Impact (empowering the users to apply the 3R-behaviour and responsible consumption).

Collaborating with @campaign and @atamericaxcampaign who are the leading and well-known sharing platform will be a great chance for echoing our solution to Indonesian and global citizens as well. Personally, working with the professional team and also our beneficiaries such as waste picker that have different background and level is being challenge for us and we realized that we need the different approach to engage with all of them and YCSE Academy can provide inspiration & innovative idea as to what kind of leadership skill and professional work that can we do to manage this cross-background. We also believe that joining YCSE Academy is an invaluable opportunity to enrich our experience, understanding and future outlook required to be the impactful social enterprise. This academy will provide us with the resources, professional networks, mentorships, grant access to pursue our goals to reinforce the capacity and capability of Wastebender.

#Smart2Recyle

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