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Google-backed Bali start-up tackles waste crisis with AI
A tech start-up based in Kuta is developing a machine learning algorithm as an alternative solution to clean up Bali – and to improving the lives of its partner trash collectors.
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Plastics and other waste lie scattered among tree debris on Kuta Beach in Bali. Gringgo Indonesia Foundation is one local start-up that is using technology to "do good" in Denpasar, Bali. (The Jakarta Post/Zul Trio Anggono)
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nlike most local start-ups, Gringgo Indonesia Foundation targets neither consumers nor small and medium enterprises; instead, it targets the hundreds of informal trash collectors in Denpasar, Bali.
The foundation was first established in late 2014 under the name CashForTrash, and then evolved into a tech start-up that coordinates city-wide waste collection through a mobile app.
These informal trash collectors – who are mostly men – go from door to door gathering recyclable and reusable waste, earning about Rp 4 million (US$283) per month by charging a small collection fee and selling the recyclable waste to companies.
The problem, explained Gringgo cofounder and president Febriadi Pratama, was that the trash collectors were uncoordinated and thus, inefficient in their waste collection. Their collection routes often overlapped, and they did not have the know-how to identify recyclable and reusable items like diapers and coconut shells.
“A lot of trash collectors are like, ‘Oh, we know that plastic has value. And cardboard. And all this paper stuff,’ but they don't know about coconut shells," said Febriadi. "There are a lot of coconut shells in Bali and there’s actually a market for it,” he told reporters at the Google "Solve with AI" conference in Tokyo, Japan.
“So we tell them, 'If you collect coconut shells – and we know you can collect several kilograms every day – and [sell them for] this much money, we can help sell them and you'll make extra money for what you do,” he said.
Gringgo currently made its income from reselling the collected waste, but Febriadi said that going forward, the foundation planned on changing its revenue model and was testing several different models across the city toward this end.
