Based on data from the National Waste Management Information System (SIPSN), as of 2021, the mass of waste in Indonesia reached 68.5 million tons. Pesantren, which numbers 36,600 in Indonesia with 3.4 million students – according to data from kemenag.go.id – certainly contribute to waste generation. On the other hand, the number of Santri as waste generators is also a great potential to be able to actively participate in managing waste.
Pesantren Al Hikam Depok City is one of the student pesantren located in Beji District, Depok, West Java and is inhabited by 265 people. This pesantren produces 33.6 kg of organic waste every day, of which 41.8% is wasted. The organic waste generated is dominated by food waste that should be managed again.
To overcome this problem, the Head of the Community Service Team (Pengmas) of the Environmental Engineering Study Program (PSTL) of the Faculty of Engineering (FT) of the Universitas Indonesia (UI), Dr. Cindy Rianti Priadi and her team, collaborated with the pesantren leaders to install and operate a tool that can process organic waste. This tool is the result of patented research, Toren Biogas (TORBI). TORBI is one of the innovations of anaerobic digestion technology that can produce products in the form of fertilizer and biogas that can be used for cooking.
This collaboration has been ongoing for more than a year. After the installation and operational phase by PSTL FTUI, TORBI is now stable and ready to be operated by the pesantren independently. To support sustainable operations, the PSTL FTUI team again conducted socialization and education to the leadership and students last Saturday (23/09). This socialization and education was attended by students, lecturers, and researchers from PSTL FTUI as well as the head of Al-Hikam Student Boarding School, Depok, KH Muhammad Yusron Shidqi.
In this activity, students at the boarding school could see the TORBI miniature, understand its design, and understand the process. The team from PSTL FTUI also explained the types of waste that can and cannot be put into TORBI.
“There are many kinds of waste that can be put into TORBI, therefore we only need to remember the waste that cannot be put into TORBI, including organic waste that has a solid shape (chicken bones and fish bones), hard shape (tree branches, corn cobs, fruit peels), plastic, soapy water, has lignin content (banana cobs, banana peels, banana leaves),” said Ayik Abdillah, S.T, M.Sc., PSTL FTUI lecturer who joined the team.
“The TORBI innovation is capable of producing high-quality biogas. With its installation, Pesantren Al Hikam has started a big step towards environmental sustainability. This activity emphasizes the importance of waste management, and with a strong understanding from the participants, it is expected that there will be significant improvements in maintaining the permanent environment. This activity is also FTUI’s commitment to campaigning for green technology and protecting the environment as part of the principles of life wisdom and maqashid sharia,” said Dean of FTUI, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU.
Meanwhile, KH Muhammad Yusron Shidqi, head of Al-Hikam Student Islamic Boarding School, Depok, West Java, said, “Islamic boarding schools have a big influence on the direction of human development. With this program, it is hoped that Al Hikam Islamic Boarding School in Depok City will be able to process organic waste independently and appropriately to meet the vision and mission of the pesantren.” This shows how this collaboration not only provides practical benefits in waste management but is also in line with the pesantren’s vision to contribute to sustainable human development.
TORBI uses anaerobic digestion to produce high-quality biogas that can be used for cooking. TORBI undergoes a hydrolysis process followed by an angiogenesis and acetogenesis process that will produce acidic compounds as food for methanogen bacteria in producing methane gas. Furthermore, the methanogen process occurs as a process of converting acid compounds into methane gas that can be used as fuel. Based on research conducted by PSTL FTUI, biogas produced from processing organic waste can produce a high CH4 content so that it can be used for cooking using a special biogas stove.
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Bureau of Public Communication
Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia