A little bit extra.

The Pejarakan project is about creating waste management and recycling solutions in the view of preserving natural resources, and ultimately revitalizing local ecosystems. This waste problem is a universal one that we believe Back Market, in its own way is already responding to, but it’s a big one and in the long run it concerns every single person. 

Which is why it would be pretty nice if everyone (meaning you, me and anyone else who is able to) did their part. Buying a smartphone accessory through Back Market is just one way you can do that. Thanks to customers like yourself, to date we have raised : 

$145,000* (and counting!).        

* as of 02/26/2021

... to sustain and grow this project just a little bit more.

Project Pejarakan in 5 scrolls.

Pejarakan is a village of a little more than 2,600 families in Northwest Bali. The village sustains itself with agriculture and fishing, and their economy relies a lot on their natural environment. Unfortunately, the ecosystem has fallen out of balance in the last few decades resulting in reduced biodiversity and threatening the community’s economic situation.

For many years Bali has faced a serious ecological problem: plastic pollution. While this problem plagues the entire planet (an estimated 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into the ocean each year), its impact is more deeply felt in Indonesia where there is a lack of means and infrastructure to deal with the problem. This phenomenon has been further aggravated by an explosion in tourism that has led to an increase in the number of inhabitants in Bali. 

The consequences are many and touch different aspects of life: sanitary (the multiplication of microplastics threatens the health of inhabitants who ingest them first or second-hand), ecological (marine flora and fauna are particularly affected), and also economic (the deterioration of natural resources that serve as the community’s livelihood through agriculture, fishing and tourism).

With the support of the team at PUR Project, the community of Pejarakan decided that, in the absence of a public waste system, they had to take the problem into their own hands and preserve the ecosystem they depend on—for them and for future generations.

This is how in 2019, the pilot project involving 280 households (7% of Pejarakan’s population) in the Batu Ampar Banjar district came to start. Carried out in parallel with a program established to protect the biosphere (particularly the mangrove and coral reefs), the project is an essential part of a broader holistic initiative to protect the local environment.

Today there are more than 1,078 people involved in the program which is divided into:

• Operations: under the aegis of Pokdarwis, a group of residents improve waste management. 
• Education: an awareness program supported by the Biosphere Foundation to encourage positive habits and behaviors within the community. 

Clean up operations are regularly organized to collect the trash littering the beaches and other public spaces. Ten beaches have been cleaned since 2019 (among them, Pasir Putih Pejarakan just beyond the village). We estimate that over 1,000 pounds of waste have been collected. 

Beyond that, it is above all, the management of household waste that will make it possible to permanently reduce the contamination of the environment. To this end, community members have banded together under the name Pokwardis.

This group has spearheaded the distribution of sorting bins made from recycled materials to families, schools and businesses in the pilot community, and created the Rumah Pila sorting center where the waste is processed.  

Once sorted, recyclable waste is sold to the government which then recycles it. Non-recyclable waste is buried in a secure landfill to prevent the contamination of the environment. Since 2019, almost 29,000 pounds of waste have been collected and treated, of which about 7,500 pounds has been recycled.

Because education is a key factor for change, an awareness program has been set up at the village level. Social events centered around the project that serve to give people information about the dangers of pollution—and especially plastic—and the importance of the recycling system that has been created.

This can be observed at the village’s primary school, SDN 4, where nearly 90 young people study. Education leaders and Youth Champions visit every week to speak with the students and introduce best practices and habits that should be adopted. They also engage students in clean up and waste management operations on school grounds. 

The Tokung Warang (a small shop/restaurant) next to the school, where students often go to buy their meals, also plays an important part in raising awareness about plastic pollution. It’s role? Limiting the sale of goods with single-use plastic packaging through the creation of water stations (to refill bottles), a no-straw policy, and the use of glass and reusable bags. 

Door-to-door operations are also organized to spread these ideas and habits within the village.

These sustainability projects are doubly beneficial for the people living in Pejarakan.  

From an ecological perspective.

The Pokwardis group gives residents much-needed concrete solutions for treating their waste and lessening the need to burn waste or leave it to litter the environment. In general, the reduction of pollution (especially plastic) helps to revitalize the surrounding ecosystem, especially when taken in conjunction with parallel initiatives for agroforestry, the restoration of coral reefs and the replanting of mangroves. 

And an economic one as well.  

The initiative also generates local jobs. Pokdarwis currently employs 7 people (notably at the Rumah Pilah sorting and waste collection center) and Biosphère has 4 people on staff. Compensation for the sale of recyclable materials also gives residents a small source of additional income.

The Pur Projet team and the people of Pejarakan don’t plan to stop here. They have big plans—and this is where we (with you) can bring our bricks and help build this building. With the funds we raise we can:

By optimizing practices in the Batu Ampar district:

encourage households to practice composting with organic waste to further reduce the amount of litter going to landfill

improve the treatment of non-recyclable waste at the official landfill by making it even safer.

• Optimize the operations at Batu Ampar:

encourage households to compost organic waste to further reduce waste going to the landfill.

improve the treatment of non-recyclable waste at the official landfill by making it more secure. 

• Extend the two prongs of the project (waste management operations and awareness) :

to other sections of Pejarakan, such as Garuda Marga Banjar, where more than 460 families live. 

at key locations in Pejarakan: the hot springs, the Hindu temple, and also local hotels and hostels.