Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology urges Unesa to become a model campus for independent waste management

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Mendiktisaintek) Brian Yuliarto is encouraging Universitas Negeri Surabaya (Unesa) to become a model campus for independent waste management. He conveyed this during a visit to Unesa’s waste management facilities on Saturday (9/5). In a statement in Jakarta on Monday, Minister Brian described Unesa as a responsive and adaptive higher education institution in following up on various inputs related to environmental management. “Eight months after the delivery of several recommendations to strengthen the waste management system, Unesa has successfully brought about real changes with more systematic and sustainable management,” he said. The Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology also assessed that the waste management process at Unesa is running in an integrated manner, from sorting, processing, to recycling. He expressed appreciation to the Rector of Unesa along with all levels of leadership, educators, students, and the management team who have worked hard to realise independent waste management in the campus environment. According to Brian, this success is expected to inspire other higher education institutions in creating an innovative, competitive, and sustainable higher education ecosystem. Brian encouraged the waste management model implemented by Unesa to become best practices for other higher education institutions in Indonesia, which he deems relevant for widespread application as part of the green and sustainable campus transformation. He assessed that the innovations produced by Unesa have the potential to be replicated by local governments down to the sub-district and village levels. In this regard, higher education institutions are expected to take on roles as centres for assistance, supervision, and development of community-based waste management innovations. In response, Unesa Rector Nurhasan stated that they have also developed a recycling process that produces value-added products, such as recycled plastic pellets. He viewed this innovation as an important part in promoting the circular economy in the higher education environment. Nurhasan committed to continuing to strengthen waste processing facilities and infrastructure so that management capacity becomes increasingly optimal.