"The ministry has a project with the BPDLH to provide a kind of loan assistance to social entrepreneurs," director general of waste, hazardous waste, and hazardous substances management at the ministry, Rosa Vivien Ratnawati, said at the 2024 National Waste Awareness Day press conference here on Tuesday.
In addition to social entrepreneurs, the scheme will also target waste bank management as well as communities engaged in waste management to help achieve the target of reducing waste by 30 percent and handling 70 percent of the total generated waste by 2025.
The target is outlined in Presidential Regulation Number 97 of 2017 on National Policy and Strategy for Waste Management.
Ratnawati said that the assistance is still being prepared by the ministry and BPDLH along with the mechanism to screen eligible recipients who can use the loan to ensure business continuity.
"It is under the screening of the ministry to see the performance of the social entrepreneurs," she added.
Social entrepreneurs are individuals or groups who, in addition to focusing on making a profit, also help tackle social and environmental issues, including waste management.
In Indonesia, there is a concept of waste banks, which are run like conventional banks. At a waste bank, people can save waste as well as borrow money and pay it back with waste that can be recycled.
According to the National Waste Management Information System (SIPSN), the number of waste banks in Indonesia stood at 25,540 units as of June 2023.
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Translator: Prisca Triferna, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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