28 January 2025 News

Transforming waste collection: Wahu joins What if Lab

At the end of last year, we invited organisations to apply for What if Lab: Sustainable Society in collaboration with Erasmus Huis Jakarta. Now, we are partnering with Wahu to address one of the most pressing environmental issues in Southeast Asia: plastic waste.

About Wahu

As an innovator in smart waste collection and recycling, Wahu’s mission is to create systemic change and establish a sustainable waste management infrastructure in Indonesia. Through its waste management system, which includes Waste Hubs and a mobile app, Wahu educates and empowers people to change their attitudes and behaviours towards waste.

At designated Wahu Waste Hubs, consumers can deposit all their household plastic waste and receive immediate rewards in the form of credits for each kilogram of plastic in their e-wallet. This prevents plastic waste from being openly burned or leaking into nature.

Once collected, the plastic waste is transported to Wahu’s central warehouse, where it is sorted, compressed, and stored for further processing and recycling.

About the collaboration

Although the government is taking steps to formalise waste management, Indonesia still relies heavily on initiatives like Wahu and the informal contributions of waste collectors (pemulung) – there are over 3 million in Java alone. This partnership with Wahu focuses on involving this community in new recycling solutions.

Together with Wahu, we will study the current system, identify areas for improvement, and carry out local experiments. Our aim is to develop innovative solutions that make waste collectors’ work more efficient and valuable while reducing the environmental damage caused by plastic waste.

Through this collaboration, we hope to contribute to a more formalised waste management system in Indonesia and drive a movement towards less waste, more recycling and improved working and living conditions for Indonesian waste collectors.

The open call for designers will open soon! So keep an eye on our socials en website.