The Tuk Bumi Plastic Upcycling Program

Turning low to no value plastics into beautiful, long lasting and useful products in remote parts of Indonesia.

---

The Anambas Foundation has worked in the Anambas islands, a remote set of islands in Indonesia to create a very successful integrated waste management system using the waste bank system, the local community can bring recyclables to them for money. Within this system, not all plastics have value or the value is so low that shipping out of these remote islands to facilities that could process them is economically unsustainable.

This is where Tuk Bumi, an initiative of the Anambas Foundation, comes in. The goal is to find creative ways to locally recycle in the Anambas and one project that was a part of this is the Plastic Upcycling Initiative.

As an artist and educator, Alanna Berman led the development and launch of this upcycling program, helping to set up production systems for small-scale recycling machines and training the local team in safe operation, material testing, and design. She conducted in depth research in how the processes could be as safe as possible especially regarding microplastics and fumes. Working collaboratively, they created sample products such as furniture and small items that show the potential of recycled plastic as both a functional and expressive material.

The project demonstrates how design and community-based innovation can transform waste into opportunity, reflecting Tuk Bumi’s broader goal of building a circular, sustainable future for the islands.