[Unpad.ac.id, 14/09/2013] Garbage is not only disgusting and smelly, but it can also be beneficial. With today’s technology, garbage or waste can be collected, recycled, and even processed into something useful. It is actually a potentially profitable business. It is Muhamad Fatah Wiyatna, S.Pt., M.Si., a lecturer at Unpad Faculty of Animal Husbandry, who has developed a system of waste disposal called Biomethagreen. This system employs anaerobic fermentation technology, which not only reduces organic waste, but also turns it into biofuel gas, power plant energy source, and liquid organic fertilizer.
Biomethagreen is the solution to the waste problem caused by “dumping” disposal system (collect and transport), said Fatah when speaking at the environment week symposium “Public Waste Management” on Saturday (09/14) at Bale Santika, Jatinangor.
In biomethagreen system, household organic waste is collected and picked out before it is put into a digester basin, which is made of concrete and fiber glass. By using a special kind of bacteria, the garbage in the basin can generate methane gas, which then can directly be dispensed as biofuel gas or electricity energy source. The remainder can be turned into liquid waste, which surprisingly is rich in nutrition, and which is why it can be processed to make liquid organic fertilizer.
Fatah himself has started the production of the liquid organic fertilizer to be marketed to the farmers, with a low price. Hopefully, it can be an alternative solution to the expensive high-quality organic fertilizer for the farmers. In addition, not only does the biomethagreen system reduce waste pollution on the environment, it also helps improve the economy by providing potential business opportunities.
Fatah encouraged the audience to build awareness about waste problem. “We can overcome waste problem starting from ourselves, from little things, from today,” he concluded.
Balancing waste disposal with tree planting
Another keynote speaker at the symposium, Mubiar Purwasasmita, who is a lecturer at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), also expressed his concern over the increasing waste problem, especially in Bandung, which now has reached critical level. The garbage dump landslide in Leuwigajah landfill indicates that our waste disposal is no longer working effectively.
“If we let this keep going on, I’m afraid that in the near future, not only will we destroy the environment, we’ll also destroy ourselves,” said Mubiar expressing his concern. He encouraged the participants to help save the environment. One way to do this is by planting trees because it will provide and maintain balance in the environment. “The more garbage we make, the more tress we plant.” The environmental benefits of trees are very considerable for the survival of the living beings on earth,” he stated.
