PSSC Untidar Implements Waste Management Research Results within the Community
Magelang (ANTARA) - The Sustainability and Circularity Study Centre (PSSC) at Tidar University (Untidar) in Magelang, Central Java, is implementing research findings, particularly regarding waste processing and the application of a circular economy, as innovations that provide direct benefits to the community.
The Chairperson of PSSC Untidar, Tri Retno Setiyawati, stated in a briefing received in Magelang on Sunday that various research results developed over the last two years have not merely remained in the laboratory but are being utilised directly by the public.
She explained that PSSC Untidar, which comprises lecturers from various scientific disciplines, has developed several technologies, such as gasification, plastic melters, and the use of maggots for livestock feed.
“The background is certainly the concern regarding waste management, so we decided to establish a study centre that can facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration,” she said during the ‘Sustainability Coffee Talks’ event on Saturday (19/9).
The centre focuses on issues of waste management, circular economy, and sustainability.
She highlighted several flagship innovations that have had a direct impact on the community, including gasification equipment to process organic waste (such as leaves and twigs from street sweeping) into synthetic gas (syngas), which residents can use similarly to LPG for daily needs.
Additionally, the development of maggots serves as a method to process organic food waste while simultaneously providing high-quality livestock feed.
She noted that these technological results are currently being used directly by the community at waste management sites (TPS) partnered with PSSC Untidar.
The gasification equipment, she said, is implemented at the TPS3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) Potrobangsaan under the auspices of the Magelang City Environmental Agency (DLH). Furthermore, incinerators and plastic melters are actively utilised by the Sidoresik Waste Bank in Bulurejo Village, Mertoyudan District, Magelang Regency, while other technological tools have been distributed to several areas in Temanggung Regency.
This year, the centre was selected as one of 22 study and research centres across Indonesia to win the Science and Technology Innovation (Insaintek) competition held by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology.
Through Insaintek funding, she stated that for the past six months, the study centre has focused on disseminating scientific literacy to the wider public through four main activities, namely ‘Sustainability Coffee Talks & STEM Open Lab’, targeting high school students to build environmental and technological awareness from an early age.
Additionally, through the ‘Community Action Program & STEM Expo’, the centre conducts direct field deployments and showcases applied technologies to the general public.