IPB Students Invent Banana Skin Based Wallet
Indonesia is 4th rank in the greatest population country in the world for 200 million people. We can not ignore that great population causes wastes in Indonesia increasing. According to a report from website menlhk.go.id, one kind of waste that has great composition is organic waste, is 60 percent from 64 million tons produced in Indonesia for a year.
To cope the problem, three Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) students from Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science are Yohanes Bernadino, Nalendra Bagus, and Muhammad Ryan make an idea to process banana skin as organic waste become a craft. The idea is written in Program Kreativitas Mahasiswa Penelitian Eksakta (PKM PE) by title “Nanocellulose Biosynthesis from Banana Skin Waste as the Alternative Craft Materials from Animal Skin Based” under the guidance of Dr. Akhiruddin Maddu.
“Our reason to choose banana skin waste because banana skin is most produced waste by community. Then, we produce the skin to become a craft,” Nalendra says.
The steps to do the recycle of banana skin waste become a craft starts from sorting the banana skin then compressing by hydrolic press machine. Then, testing by a few bacterial to get nata skins to process become a craft. The changing process of banana skin become nata sheets takes 20 days for 500 grams per process. The time of processing depends on thickness of the waste and incubation process.
“After getting thin nata sheets, then we can process into a craft such as wallet. This creative idea can make unavail banana skin waste become economic worth,” Nalendra continues.
By processing banana skin waste, this PKM team hopes can decrease number of organic waste become economic worth product, especially for Indonesian community that consumes banana for high number.
“The common community also can process banana skin waste become wallet craft. In our research we use hydrolic press machine to compress the skin, then the crafters can compress the skin by using stone,” Yohanes adds.
The unique idea from Yohanes and team can become a reference and new innovation for Indonesian crafters and not depending on animal skin to produce a craft.
“If in usual wallet using animal skin, by this banana skin waste innovation we do not have to use animal skin. But we can employ banana skin waste become economic worth product,” Yohanes closes. (NR)
