sustainable waste bin

LSBU’s cutting-edge research into cutting down on plastic waste

As part of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Industry-Academia Partnership Programme (IAPP), LSBU is at the heart of a research project that has the potential to positively impact the global fight against non-recyclable plastic waste
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23 March 2020

Collaborating with academics from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) in Indonesia, and industry partners Lembaga Penerapan Teknologi Tepat (LPTT), PT Mantra Bali, CLEAR Community, and Atelier Ten, LSBU has been researching the impact of coastal pollution in Indonesia, and addressing the urgent need to improve the waste management infrastructure in coastal and rural areas. Indonesia is currently the second largest polluter of plastic to oceans, and over 80% of their waste is mismanaged.

Jennifer Hardi, the Principal Investigator for the project and Senior Lecturer and Course Director for the BSc (Hons) Architectural Technology and Architectural Engineering course, along with Dr Issa Chaer, Director of Research and Enterprise for LSBU; and Professor Andy Ford, Professor of Building Systems Engineering; have been instrumental in the latest chapter of this far-reaching industrial and academic partnership.

As key members of the Integrated Waste Management Facilities for Coastal Indonesia at Three Scales – Desa (village), Kecamatan (district) and Kabupaten (region): Technical Feasibility and Multi-disciplinary Virtual Scheme Design Collaboration project, their objectives were threefold:

  1. Bring together technical experts from the UK and Indonesia, to create a best-practice design process that is both practical and sustainable.
  1. Develop a range of innovative and sustainable engineering design and technology solutions for waste management facilities, to serve rural Indonesia at different scales.
  1. Enable teachers, researchers and students in Indonesia to practice engineering design techniques, with the aim of solving the civil engineering challenges they face, in regard to waste management.

The project team undertook a number of activities in order to achieve the objectives. These included feasibility studies, where data was compiled for waste quantities and types, and each relevant scale of facility was considered; and drone surveys, which allowed for 3D visualisation of the sites.