Words by Smiley Team
Reducing plastic waste is a challenge for everyone, but particularly for the world’s second largest plastic polluter, Indonesia. Among the initiatives tackling this problem, Siklus is a new startup that needs your help. Their ocean plastic solution is competing for a grant of $25,000. Its success depends only on your vote.
The social enterprise offers refills of everyday essentials that they deliver door-to-door by bicycle. Customers order via an app or over WhatsApp. When the refill station arrives they can use their own containers to top up on products from mainstream brands.
Its founder Jane Von Rabenau created the startup after witnessing firsthand the impact of plastic waste in India. She said: “A lot of my friends were purchasing everyday goods in sachets and were paying a higher price.
“They lived in neighbourhoods which lacked waste management and so a lot of plastic was just burnt, which causes diseases and blocks drainage systems, leading to floods. It was at that point I knew that I wanted to do more about this issue.”
One day, in the Philippines, Jane was using a machine which refills water bottles in exchange for coins and she wondered why this wasn’t done for more products.
After moving to Indonesia a year ago and starting to learn about local plastic waste problems, the need for such initiatives became even more evident to her. In 2017, 47 per cent of the country’s plastic waste was burned, only ten percent was recycled, and this year, it produced 6.8 million tons of discarded plastic.
“Citizens are fed up with this. They are suffering because of it and desperately want a solution. So we hope that Siklus is able to help at least some of those people,” Jane added.
To realise this vision, the organisation worked hard, scaling up their operations and reaching out to big brands such as Nestlé to build their offering to include washing detergent, shampoo and cooking oil.
Without the needless packaging, the refills work out cheaper than buying products from supermarkets, something that obviously creates an added appeal for shoppers.
“The customer response has been overwhelming. People really like the idea of getting products cheaper but also of making their country cleaner and greener,” said Jane.
The organisation is competing for a grant from Solution Search, a contest that uses crowdfunding to build the capacity of initiatives blending behavioral science with conservation, and community action.
Vote for Siklus in the Water Pollution and Behaviour Change contest here or browse other competitors here.
Find more information about Siklus and sign up for deliveries here.
