Residents of Kebon Kosong Transform Waste into Valuable Products, but Buyers Are Few

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Residents of RT 014 RW 006 in Kebon Kosong have successfully transformed household waste into economically valuable products through the Kampung Edukasi Wisata or Eduwisata Bhinneka initiative.

In this waste bank-based village, plastic bottles, organic waste, and used cooking oil are processed into various sellable products.

However, behind this success, the residents now face a new problem: difficulty in marketing the processed waste products.

“Sometimes after we make fertiliser, oil, basically the results from processing the waste—where do we distribute them? Because the market is still lacking,” said the Manager of Eduwisata Bhinneka, Joko Sarjono, when met by Kompas.com on Tuesday (13/5/2026).

Organic waste from food scraps and fruits collected by residents is processed into compost fertiliser.

This compost fertiliser is sold for Rp12,000 for a 3-kilogram size and Rp15,000 for a 4-kilogram size.

However, according to Joko, fertiliser production is now in excess because buyers are scarce.

“Now the situation is that the fertiliser is overproduced. Buyers are rare, so it piles up,” he said.

In addition to compost fertiliser, the waste bank also collects used cooking oil to be resold through partnerships with private entities.

Joko said that residents are gradually getting accustomed to sorting waste from their homes before depositing it at the waste bank.

Therefore, he believes that government support is still needed, particularly to help absorb the products resulting from the residents’ waste processing.

He hopes the government can purchase products from the waste bank for use in relevant agencies, such as organic fertiliser for city landscaping needs.

“The government could buy products from us and distribute them to other agencies. For example, organic fertiliser could be bought for the parks and recreation department,” he said.