Empowering the Kayambang Youth Cooperative through Plastic-Waste Shredding Training to Support the Citarum Harum Program in Bojong Picung, Cianjur

Abstract

Plastic waste remains a major driver of pollution in the Citarum River watershed, and informal-sector actors along its tributaries in Cianjur Regency have limited access to technology that could convert this waste into an income-generating resource. This community service program aimed to strengthen the capacity of the Kayambang Youth Cooperative in Desa Bojong Picung, Kabupaten Cianjur, to manage plastic bottle waste using an appropriate-technology shredder (crusher) machine as part of the Citarum Harum river-restoration program. The two-day program (29-30 July 2026), attended by 18 cooperative members, combined lecture-based environmental education, green-entrepreneurship coaching, and hands-on technical training, evaluated with a single-group pre-post-training assessment and a post-activity satisfaction survey. Participants’ understanding of plastic pollution and the 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) principle increased by 35 percent, while technical competence in operating the shredder increased by 45 percent; during the practicum, participants processed 25 kg of plastic bottles into flakes within approximately 45 minutes. A value-chain simulation indicated that shredding could raise the price of the waste roughly threefold, from about IDR 2,500-3,000 per kilogram for whole bottles to IDR 7,500-9,000 per kilogram for flakes, and 86 percent of participants reported greater confidence in plastic waste as a business opportunity. These outcomes suggest that appropriate-technology training combined with entrepreneurship coaching can plausibly support both Citarum Harum’s environmental objectives and cooperatives’ economic empowerment. However, these are short-term, end-of-program results from a single cohort: the economic figures are simulation-based projections, and no long-term monitoring data yet confirm sustained income or environmental impact.