Ari starts his day navigating Jakarta’s streets, collecting recyclable waste from homes and small businesses. He is a waste picker, and he lives with a visual impairment. In a system that often overlooks both informal workers and persons with disabilities, his work is rarely seen. Yet without people like Ari, Indonesia’s recycling system would be far less effective.
Indonesia’s recycling journey does not begin at landfills or recycling plants. It begins in neighbourhoods and alleyways, with the informal sector. Waste pickers and waste bank operators form the backbone of the recycling chain, collecting up to more than 80% percent of recyclables in some cities. Every bottle sorted, every kilogram weighed, is a small act that prevents plastic from leaking into rivers and, eventually, the ocean. When multiplied across communities, these everyday actions prove that progress can be built without pushing ecosystems beyond their limits.
From Invisible Work to Measurable Impact
Indonesia generated an estimated 30–35 million tons of waste in 2024, with more than 60 percent left unmanaged. Much of it ends up in waterways and coastal areas, threatening ecosystems, food security, and coastal livelihoods. The challenge is not only environmental, but also deeply human.
This is where UNDP’s vision of development within planetary boundaries becomes real: advancing well-being without undermining the natural systems people depend on.
One of Indonesia’s most distinctive responses is the waste bank system, where communities sort recyclable materials and convert them into savings. Waste banks create economic opportunities, particularly for women and informal workers, while keeping plastic out of nature. Yet many still rely on manual ledgers and fragmented records, limiting their ability to scale and demonstrate impact.
Duitin, a digital waste management start-up and winner of the ASEAN Blue Innovation Challenge (ABIC), saw this gap as an opportunity.
“We weren’t just digitizing records,” said Alena, one of Duitin’s founders. “Our goal was to help waste banks manage waste more transparently and sustainably in the long run.”
Through its digital platform, Tradisi, Duitin turns everyday recycling into real-time, traceable data, recording waste deposits, transactions, and collection routes. What was once informal and invisible becomes measurable, trusted, and investable.
Supported by UNDP and funded by the Government of Japan, ABIC enabled innovators like Duitin to test, refine, and scale solutions that prevent plastic from leaking into the ocean. Through this partnership, Duitin worked with seven waste banks across Yogyakarta, Central Java, and East Java, prioritizing coastal areas where marine pollution risks are highest. Digital devices, training, and mentoring supported waste banks in transitioning from paper-based systems to integrated digital operations.
By March 2025, Tradisi had recorded 33.58 tons of recyclable waste managed, nearly 1,000 waste deposit transactions, and 284 registered users, more than 75 percent of them women. Digitalization reduced administrative burdens and allowed waste bank operators to focus on outreach, education, and community engagement, ensuring environmental progress also delivers social value.
Inclusion, Innovation, and a Shared Future for the Ocean
At Duitin, Ari is not defined by his disability, but by his contribution. He collects waste, records transactions, and delivers recyclables across Jakarta and surrounding cities.
“I was afraid people would see my disability before my abilities,” Ari shared. “But here, I was trusted with responsibility. It showed me that I could contribute like anyone else.”
His story reflects a core UNDP commitment: people must be at the center of sustainable development. When innovation includes informal workers and persons with disabilities, systems become more resilient, equitable, and effective.
Duitin’s journey through the ASEAN Blue Innovation Challenge (ABIC) shows how inclusive, community-rooted innovation can protect marine ecosystems while strengthening livelihoods. This is development within planetary boundaries in practice: waste kept out of the ocean, communities empowered, and progress measured not only in numbers, but in dignity and opportunity.
