Sumedang Regency Addresses Waste Issues through Environmentally Friendly School Programme

Sumedang (ANTARA) - The Sumedang Regency Government in West Java is continuously reinforcing the Environmentally Friendly School Programme as an effort to build an environmental care culture from an early age while addressing waste issues in the area.

Sumedang Regent Dony Ahmad Munir stated that the Environmentally Friendly School Programme serves as a strategic step in responding to the waste problem, which reaches more than 176,000 tonnes or around 483 tonnes per day.

“We want schools to become centres of change. Not just places for academic learning, but also strategic locations for building awareness and environmentally friendly behaviour in addressing waste issues,” he said in his statement in Sumedang on Saturday.

His side is encouraging the implementation of the Zero Waste School concept across all educational units through various positive activities, such as sorting waste, maintaining school environmental cleanliness, reducing the use of single-use plastics, and habituating students to bring their own eating and drinking containers.

The Sumedang Regency Government targets all schools in the area to gradually implement similar programmes to support the reduction of waste volume entering the Final Disposal Site (TPA).

According to Dony, the programme is beginning to show positive impacts on the school environment and the surrounding community.

“There must be real change. Schools become cleaner, students are more caring towards the environment, and the impacts are starting to be felt in the community,” he said.

Dony hopes that the environmentally friendly school movement can continue to develop and become a shared culture, not only in school environments but also in the midst of society.

“This is our commitment to continue carrying it out; we are not only solving environmental problems but also shaping a generation that is responsible for the future,” he said.

In addition to through environmentally friendly schools, the Sumedang Regency Government is also continuously encouraging waste reduction at the source through waste sorting education, the establishment of waste banks, compost processing, and increasing community participation in maintaining environmental cleanliness.