The pollution of water and soil by waste is one of the biggest problems for our environment. Indonesia is the second-biggest contributor of plastic waste in the world, producing over five million tons of plastic waste per year, with around three million tons disposed to the waters around the country. One of the main reasons is that many small islands have no waste collection and no municipal disposal system for household and other waste. Due to a lack of knowledge about the dangers involved people dump their waste in landfills, burn it or dispose of it in the sea.

With the Recycle for Good program, SIG and the SIG Way Beyond Good Foundation want to change people’s behavior and promote the mindful use of natural resources. The program is designed to encourage the public to drop off recyclable waste such as beverage cartons, glass, plastic, or cooking oil at a collection point and thus return it to the cycle. In return, they receive food vouchers or coupons for other goods and services, that they can exchange at Recycle for Good partners. The materials are sorted on-site and recycled by a recycling partner.

SIG Way Beyond Good Foundation envisions a future where good nutrition and clean water are available to everyone, and natural habitats, are preserved for future generations.

Holger Dickers, executive director, SIG WAY BEYOND GOOD FOUNDATION, “Together with its partners, the foundation’s purpose is to identify, drive and promote activities and projects that strengthen civil society and create positive impacts for the environment. Indonesia, with its large population, has huge potential to contribute. To do so, people need to start taking small steps to lead a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.”

With the experience of SO+MA, a Brazilian social startup that has been working with SIG since 2018 to promote the circular economy through a reward system, the foundation developed its global Recycle for Good program. Indonesia is launching the program as the first country in Southeast Asia on March 3, 2023, at Cibubur Junction in East Jakarta, where a Recycle for Good drop point is located. Later, the program will be replicated.

Angela Lu, president and general manager, Asia Pacific-South, SIG, “We are very happy to launch the Recycle for Good program in Southeast Asia, starting with Indonesia. Indonesia is one of the countries in the region that have taken action to address environmental issues, and SIG is also taking part through Recycle for Good. We hope to see behavioral change in the Indonesian public, starting with taking small steps toward a more sustainable lifestyle, one of which is collecting and delivering their waste to the Recycle for Good drop point to be managed and recycled.”

“After rolling out various activities that support sustainability, we are excited to implement the Recycle for Good program in Indonesia. We encourage the public to participate in taking action towards preserving our environment by collecting their waste at our drop point. This innovative model to promote recycling not only brings environmental benefits, but also socio-economic advantages by offering people in low-income communities an opportunity to improve their quality of life by saving money on essentials or learning skills to open the door to new job opportunities,” concludes Noer Wellington, head - Market Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam, SIG.