Delterra held a handover ceremony last week in the Bali village of Kesiman Kertalangu to celebrate the successful implementation of the Rethinking Recycling program.
After two years of implementation in partnership with Delterra, the Department of Environment and Hygiene of Denpasar City and the Indonesia Packaging Recovery Organization (IPRO), Kesiman Kertalangu has effectively transformed its waste management system and demonstrated its commitment and ability to run the program independently.
Waste is at the nexus of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss, and pollution. Delterra’s Rethinking Recycling program works to build self-sustaining waste management and recycling ecosystems that redirect waste into productive use while improving the lives of the people it touches.
The event was attended by the local community and Village Chief of Kesiman Kertalangu, the Head of Environment and Hygiene Department of Denpasar City, the Regional Director of Delterra, the waste management team of the BUMDES (village-owned enterprise) and the Environmental Education and Training Center Bali (PPLH), as well as their respective teams.
During the event, Delterra’s Asia Regional Director emphasized that the handover represents a ‘crowning achievement’ for the village after this two-year journey. Celebrating this milestone serves as a token of recognition for the community’s work to realize this transformation of their entire waste management and recycling system.
“This is an incredibly important event. Over the past two years, Delterra has collaborated with the local community of Kesiman Kertalangu to drive source separation at source and divert waste from landfill. The continuous support from the Department of Environment and Hygiene Denpasar (DLHK) and Indonesia Packaging Recovery Organization (IPRO) has greatly facilitated our challenging journey. Changing people’s behavior is undoubtedly challenging, but our commitment to waste management transformation is abundantly clear,” said Lalit Matai, Delterra’s Asia Regional Director.
Back in 2019, Rethinking Recycling programs were initiated in Desa Kedas Sanur Kauh. After successfully running the waste management program, Rethinking Recycling continued this waste management program to five additional villages: Kesiman Kertalangu, Pemogan, Ubung Kaja, Pemecutan Kaja, and Tegal Kertha.
During this period, Rethinking Recycling developed five essential initiatives for the success of the program: community engagement, behavior change, operation optimization, material sales and digital enablement. With Rethinking Recycling, a transformation of the recycling habits of over 30,000 residents in Denpasar is already underway, which will meaningfully transform the recycling value chain.
Cok Istri Mirahyani represented the Denpasar Department of Environment and Hygiene, stating that “Initiatives and collaborations with Desa Kesiman Kertalangu and Delterra have provided tangible positive changes in waste management, including increasing public awareness of the importance of waste reduction and sorting at source. We hope that this effort can be an inspiration for all parties to join hands in bringing change to a cleaner Bali.”
“The residents of our village have greatly benefited from the Rethinking Recycling program. The technical support and knowledge in source-based waste management have empowered us to sustain this program independently. We hope that other villages in Bali will adopt similar measures with the support of Delterra,” expressed I Made Suena, the Head of Kesiman Kertalangu Village.
Meanwhile, Zul Martini Indrawati, General Manager of Indonesia Packaging Recovery Organization (IPRO), extended appreciation towards Delterra and Kesiman Kertalangu for their dedicated efforts in establishing and managing the facility under the Rethinking Recycling program, saying that waste management at the Kesiman Kertalangu facility is successful due to its decentralized approach. The waste is sorted right from the source, with active involvement of the community and local organizations, and implementing a well-structured waste collection schedule.
As Delterra moves into a lighter touch monitoring mode with Kesiman Kertalangu, the team will continue to track system progress and remain available to the village for consultation as needed. The program is now being implemented in Badung, where it aspires to bring recycling and waste management services to 600k people over the next three to five years.
