Supporting Sustainability, UMN is the First Private Campus in Indonesia with a Reverse Vending Machine (RVM)

Student photo with the Rectorate and all collaboration parties. (Doc. UMN)

Tangerang – Multimedia Nusantara University (UMN) students attended the opening of the reverse vending machine (RVM) for plastic bottles in the event ‘PlastiKOS: Kita Olah Sampah‘ on Tuesday (16/3). As an effort to reach the 12th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), “Responsible Consumption and Production,” this collaboration with Plasticpay makes UMN the first private campus and the third campus in Indonesia to have an RVM.

The RVM launch was attended by the Rectorate, Deans, Lecturers, student groups, Plasticpay representatives, BSI representatives, and Chatime representatives at the UMN canteen. In his speech, Dr. Ninok Leksono, Rector of UMN, appreciated this collaboration. “On this happy afternoon, we are here for something basic but has a deep meaning for the contribution to the environment,” Ninok said. 

Ninok added that UMN is the first private campus to proudly not miss the train. “UMN is contributing to solving environmental issues and tackling global warming,” Ninok said. The speech ended with a thank you to BSI, Plasticpay, Chatime, and the committee for supporting the entire event.

Ninok Leksono, Suhendra Setiadi, Firman Jatnika, and Irene Melia (Left-Right). (Doc. UMN)

Plasticpay’s CEO, Suhendra Setiadi, gave an enthusiastic speech regarding the event. 

“This movement is closely related to the 12th SDG, namely responsible production and consumption, and this event is also a proof of the 17th SDG, namely Partnerships For The Goals or partnering for one goal. Because each of us here has their own role and strength and how we can join forces to realize a goal. So, we hope this activity can be realized into something sustainable,” Suhendra said.

Suhendra’s speech was then followed by the director of Bank Syariah Indonesia, Firman Jatnika, who delivered his remarks with a smile. 

“This activity is a good opportunity because together, we see the SDGs that concerns Indonesian people. Hopefully, this machine can become a bond of friendship between UMN and us, and we can learn together about the compatibility between future values, namely sustainability and contributing to the environment and planet, especially for a better humanity and for our earth,” Firman said.

The event continued with a speech from the Brand Manager of Chatime Group, Irene Melia. “We are very happy that Chatime and BSI can be part of the sustainability program at Multimedia Nusantara University. Dropbox is one of the initiatives from Chatime and BSI to support the sustainability program,” Irene said. The Chatime Dropbox is expected to contribute to the environment by giving higher value to plastic bottle waste.

Kevin Sanly Putera, M.I.Kom, PlastiKOS project supervisor (Left), and Dave Hapien, PlastiKOS group leader (Right). (Doc. UMN)

The event continued with the inauguration of the RVM machine and dropbox. The cloth that covered the machine was pulled, and a few representatives from all parties tested the machine by inserting plastic bottle wastes.

The PlastiKOS program is a result of UMN students’ group work in the Communication for Sustainable Development course, accompanied by Kevin Sanly Putera, M.I.Kom, a lecturer in the Strategic Communication Study Program at Multimedia Nusantara University Digital Learning (UDL).

“This relatively new course is a tangible manifestation of UMN’s commitment to support sustainability. In our final project, students are asked to create a collaborative project per the principles of sustainable development and SDGs,” Kevin said. 

PlastiKOS was initiated by six students who are interested in the sustainable processing of plastic bottle waste. Led by Jennifer Lopez and Dave Hapien, the PlastiKOS group decided to create this collaboration with Plasticpay since February 2023.

“The whole process, from the first meeting between UMN and Plasticpay, to the preparation, to the launch day, was all run jointly by students in our class and supported by various internal campus parties,” Kevin explained.

Inauguration of Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) in UMN. (Doc. UMN)

Plasticpay is a social movement that prioritizes CSR activities based on digital channels to invite the community to bring environmental change together by turning harmful plastic bottle waste into something useful and useful. The plastic bottle waste collected will be recycled by Plasticpay into granules, Recycled Polyester Staple Fiber (“Re-PSF”), yarn, and fabric which results in eco-friendly fiber and recycled fabric that meets high-quality standards. 

These recycled products are then turned into something useful, such as hats, pencil boxes, bags, dolls, pillows, etc. Not only does this waste collection make a difference to the environment, but the plastic bottles put into the dropbox machine can be redeemed for Plasticpay Points. These Plasticpay Points can later be exchanged into electronic money such as OVO, Gopay, LinkAja, and other forms such as credit, data packages, point transfers, bank transfers, or shopping vouchers through the Plasticpay application. 

Through the multi-stakeholder collaboration between Multimedia Nusantara University (UMN) x Bank Syariah Indonesia x Chatime x Plasticpay, it is hoped to be able to accelerate the acceleration of the upcoming Indonesia Net Zero Emission 2060 Decarbonization Program because it is in accordance with SDGs no.12 (Responsible Consumption & Production) and SDGs no.17 (Partnership for The Goals).

By PR Team PlastiKOS

English translation by Levina Chrestella Theodora

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