What's happening in PresUniv
On Monday, 23 October 23 2023, Muhammad Sigit Andhi Rahman, Ph.D., presented the Community Service Activities (Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat or PKM), which is collaborative project between President University (Presuniv), PT Muliaglass, and the Community Reading Garden Forum (Forum Taman Bacaan Masyarakat or FTBM) of Bekasi Regency, in front of postgraduate students of Environmental Engineering at Kitakyushu University, Japan. Sigit is a lecturer in the International Relations Study Program, Faculty of Humanities, Presuniv. PKM project involves the collection of glass and bottle waste by the community which will then be used as raw materials by Muliaglass. "This activity aims to create a circular economy that impacts the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, waste, job creation, and, at the same time, raising environmental awareness among the community," explained Sigit. Starting in July 2023, this programme has successfully established three waste banks and collected around 42 tonnes of used glass bottles or cullets, which are processed by Muliaglass.
Prof. Hiroyuki Tsuji, a lecturer in the Entrepreneurship and Start-Up course in the Graduate Programme of Environmental Engineering at Kitakyushu University, has incorporated this PKM programme as a business case for his classes. After presenting the material, the participating students were divided into groups and asked to use their engineering skills to formulate improvements to this programme.
One group proposed an upscaling concept to increase the added value of bottle waste by turning them into exclusive glass containers, thereby motivating the community to collect them more actively and not to dispose of glass bottles carelessly. Another group focused on creating a more efficient and effective waste collection system to enhance the waste bank's profitability. The next group suggested the idea of a "bottle-breaking festival" as a stress-relief event. Those who wanted to break bottles would have to pay. Ideas like these are crucial for improving the entrepreneurial learning process in higher education. (JB Susetiyo. Report and photos: M. Sigit Andhi Rahman from Japan)
