Misool Community Recycling: working with local communities to keep Raja Ampat’s reefs waste-free

As the number 2 plastic polluter in the world, Indonesia produces about 130,000 tons of plastic and solid waste every day, and only about half of that reaches landfill sites. Municipal services such as waste management rarely reach remote coastal communities. In 2014 we built a local solution to this global problem called Bank Sampah Sorong Raya (BSSR) in Indonesian.

BSSR incentivizes local communities to properly dispose of waste by purchasing rubbish directly from these coastal villages. Materials are then shipped back to the mainland and processed for recycling, diverting ocean-bound plastics while improving household incomes. BSSR members can choose to be paid directly for their waste or leave funds in the ‘bank’ to collect interest.

We collected 39.2 metric tons of rubbish in 2022 and recycled 7547kg of ocean bound plastic.