Inno-Va Project Making Upcycling blocks

Did you know that Indonesia generates the 2nd most plastic waste in the world? What’s more surprising is that only 8% of it is recycled, and the rest is either burnt or landfilled. Unfortunately, most Indonesians are not aware of recycling, and there is no proper trash management system.

*Man in Banjar City, Jawa Barat, Indonesia. (source: unsplash)

Once the trash is thrown away by individuals, it is trash pickers’ job to categorize each trash, because there is no governmental recycling system. However, it is inconvenient to organize after the trash is mixed, as plastic can’t be recycled if it’s contaminated by the food waste. Itis also harmful to trash pickers’ health.

To solve this problem, our team tried to find a way to educate and motivate individuals to practice recycling. In the long term, we also aim to build trash management system in Indonesia.

Team Inno-Va met each other from Inno-camp, and initially came up with our idea ‘blocks’ inspired by a startup in India, who used upcycled plastic bricks to build a house. Instead of building real houses, we decided to scale it down to model house- block toys for children. By playing with our product, we expect children to accept upcycling as part of their life and learn how to protect the environment from the pollution.

Transforming Plastic Waste into Toys

We came up with an upcycling system for households with children. When the children send us old plastic toys that they no longer use, team Inno-Va will turn them into new toys through our upcycling system. We will collaborate with local upcycling company in Java Island to produce our product.

Our first product is Inno-blocks. The blocks will be sold in small separate packages with consist of 80-100 blocks, including the instructions. On the back of the instruction paper, there will be crossword puzzles and short cartoons about the environment.

Through our upcycling process, team Inno-Va creates new value by reusing plastic waste that would have otherwise been burnt or sent to landfills and caused environmental pollution. Children can get new toys with better price by giving their unused old toys and take upcycling as part of their life. They can also learn about the climate crisis and ways to protect the environment through playing with Inno-Blocks.

Our future goal is to expand our upcycling product from accessory DIY kits, dolls, and even tools like scissors. We are also planning to build an upcycling center. providing an environmental cultural experience space for people all over Indonesia.

Fund Usage Plan

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Social Innovators dreaming of a better future!