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( 01 )

Waste-sorting bins

Three sections. Organic, plastic, residual.

Documented period
2026
Location
Public areas, Kelurahan Cipawitra, Tasikmalaya
A steel-framed waste station with three dark signboards reading ORGANIK, PLASTIK and RESIDU above tiled compartments; two workers seen from behind.
Fig. 01A sorting unit assembled in the workshop: three labelled sections (organik · plastik · residu) on a mosaic-clad base, with the sign "Pilah sampah, jaga desa kita".· Workshop at the family depot, Tasikmalaya

The problem

In conversations before any design existed, residents described disposal points that were too few and often full, and said waste was sometimes burned. They already knew burning was bad; what they lacked was a clear, nearby place to put things.

Materials

Frame
New steel section, cut and welded in the workshopDocumented

Load-bearing parts never use reclaimed material.

Base and cladding
Concrete base faced with broken floor tile from the family depot, selected by conditionDocumented

Weight of reclaimed tile per unit not recorded.

Sections and signs
Three compartments with printed boards: ORGANIK (food scraps, leaves) · PLASTIK (bottles, bags) · RESIDU (nappies, tissue, styrofoam); headboard "Pilah sampah, jaga desa kita"Documented
Inner bin
Planned as removable for washing; confirm on installed unitsProject record

Design and production

  1. Two people sit cross-legged on a tiled floor; one holds a small microphone toward the other. A board behind them reads Pos Kamling RT01/04, Kel Cipawitra.

    01Listen before drawing

    A formal visit to the kelurahan and informal conversations with residents came first. The brief for the documentation team was explicit: do not mention a product, ask what is missing.

  2. A hand picking a chipped tile from a pile of broken tiles on a plank.

    02Sort the pile

    Unsellable stock was separated into pieces that were genuinely unsafe and pieces that had only lost their sale value. Sharp, crumbling or badly cracked pieces were rejected.

  3. Sparks from an angle grinder cutting a steel bar held on timber blocks; the worker's hands and boots are visible.

    03Frame first, cladding last

    Makers cut and welded the steel frame before any tile was set. Reclaimed pieces were pressed into the concrete base only, never into anything that carries load, and every reachable edge was set flush.

  4. Wide view of a large bare interior with four people working around a waste-sorting unit; faces are turned away.

    04Review from a distance

    The founder reviewed daily photos from Shenzhen. One paint finish did not meet the standard and was redone before installation.

Who did what

  • Residents and kelurahan staffDescribed the problem, suggested where units would actually be used, and confirmed installation in writing.
  • Local makers (about five, paid per job)Fabricated frames, set cladding, finished surfaces, and began checking one another's work.
  • Founder and project leadChose the scope, set the safety rule, reviewed progress remotely, and decided what not to build.
  • Family building-materials businessDonated the leftover material and workshop space.

Outcome

Sorting units with organic, plastic and residual sections, each under a sign that reads "Pilah sampah, jaga desa kita" (sort your waste, look after our village), now stand in public areas of the kelurahan. They are part of the nine units installed in 2026.

Figures

Units installed (bins and seating combined)
9 · in 2026Project record

Per project records and a letter from the kelurahan head. Split by type not yet recorded.

Reclaimed material used (kg)
Not yet weighedNot yet recorded

A planning target of about 18 kg per bin existed. Targets are not results, so we do not publish them as such.

Sorting behaviour
Not measuredNot yet recorded

A full bin is not proof of sorted waste.

Challenges

  • Designing for a place the founder was not standing in, with photos as the only daily check.
  • Deciding which damaged pieces were safe enough to use, without a lab, by rule of thumb and a maker's hands.
  • Keeping scope small when residents' needs were larger than the material could serve.

Lessons

  • Installation is the start of the question, not the answer. Who empties the bins, how often, and whether sorting holds are the next things to record.
  • Write the actual numbers down at the workshop, the day it happens. Planning targets do not become data on their own.

Current status

Installed

Installed. Use is observed, not yet measured. Next step: a simple log of emptying and condition, kept by the kelurahan or a resident volunteer if one exists.

Last reviewed: 2026

Sparks from an angle grinder cutting a steel bar held on timber blocks; the worker's hands and boots are visible.
Fig. 06Cutting steel section to length with an angle grinder for the bin frames.· Workshop at the family depot, Tasikmalaya
Wide view of a large bare interior with four people working around a waste-sorting unit; faces are turned away.
Fig. 07Final assembly of a sorting unit inside the depot's unfinished upper floor, 2026.· Workshop at the family depot, Tasikmalaya
A steel-framed waste station with three dark signboards reading ORGANIK, PLASTIK and RESIDU above tiled compartments; two workers seen from behind.
Fig. 08A sorting unit assembled in the workshop: three labelled sections (organik · plastik · residu) on a mosaic-clad base, with the sign "Pilah sampah, jaga desa kita".· Workshop at the family depot, Tasikmalaya
Close-up of a printed signboard with the reincycle wordmark and the words Youth Today, Earth Tomorrow.
Fig. 09The sign on each unit carries the project mark and the line "Youth today, earth tomorrow".· Workshop at the family depot, Tasikmalaya
A black pick-up truck in a sunny yard carrying a waste-sorting unit with a RESIDU sign; a person stands beside the cab.
Fig. 10A sorting unit loaded onto a pick-up truck in the depot yard, 2026.· Depot yard, Tasikmalaya
Hands steady a steel-framed sorting unit with a tile-mosaic base and a sign reading Pilah sampah, jaga desa kita.
Fig. 11A sorting unit being set in place outside the kelurahan office. Still from the project's video record.· Kelurahan Cipawitra office
Five people lean over a sorting unit with their hands on its tiled base; the sign reads Pilah sampah, jaga desa kita, and a yellow truck stands behind.
Fig. 12Five people steady a sorting unit by its tile-mosaic base on installation day. Still from the project's video record.· Kelurahan Cipawitra
About a dozen people standing behind a three-compartment waste-sorting unit, under a canopy with red-and-white bunting and trees behind.
Fig. 13A group gathered behind an installed sorting unit in Kelurahan Cipawitra. Still from the project's video record.· Kelurahan Cipawitra
Three people lifting a heavy tiled concrete block onto a wooden pallet in a warehouse aisle.
Fig. 14Three makers lift a finished mosaic base onto a pallet, between stacks of boxed tiles in the depot.· Workshop at the family depot, Tasikmalaya