
Organic waste from agricultural and household activities remains a serious problem for communities and governments when not properly managed. Such waste can produce unpleasant odors, pollute the environment, and contribute to rising methane emissions, which are becoming one of the major causes of climate change.
This issue is also faced by hundreds of families in Playen Village, Gunungkidul Regency, most of whom rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. The Gunungkidul area has been identified as a significant contributor to waste generation, showing a 20 percent increase, equivalent to 79,143 kilograms.
To address this problem, five Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) students participating in the Student Creativity Program for Community Service (PKM-PM) launched an initiative called KOSMOT-ZeroGRK, an acronym for Komposter Otomatis Zero Gas Rumah Kaca (Automatic Zero Greenhouse Gas Composter).
The team consists of Miftakhul Ulum (Agriculture UGM), Muhammad Irfan Anwari and Krisna Budhiantoro M.K. (Vocational College/SV UGM), Desta Satria Candrawinata, and Aila Anisa Zahra (Biology UGM). The students are supervised by Dr. Andi Syahid Muttaqin, a lecturer from Agriculture UGM.
Through this program, the students initiated household organic waste management using simple, eco-friendly technology, with active participation from local residents, particularly members of the PKK Rumah Kreatif in Playen I Hamlet.
“Greenhouse gas emissions can actually be reduced starting from small-scale actions, such as household organic waste management. Playen I Hamlet has strong potential to become a model for a self-sufficient and sustainable Zero-Waste and Zero-Emission community,” said Miftakhul Ulum, the team leader, on Thursday (Oct. 9).
The program utilizes a sustainable organic waste processing system, featuring the development of the ZeroGRK Automatic Composter, Biopore Composters, and stacked composting buckets. During implementation, women from the PKK Rumah Kreatif actively participated in converting household organic waste into compost fertilizer.
“The compost can be used on vacant land to grow food crops and vegetables. In addition, the team also provided education on climate change mitigation and the economic use of compost products to support community livelihoods,” Ulum explained.
By applying simple technology, the community service program aims to promote self-reliance among Playen I residents, create new economic opportunities, and strengthen family nutrition resilience. Moreover, the initiative encourages community participation in supporting the government’s Net Zero Emission 2060 target while managing organic waste independently and sustainably.
“We hope this program will raise public awareness of sustainable organic waste management, reduce environmental pollution, and help build a self-reliant and sustainable village,” said Muhammad Irfan Anwari, one of the team members.
Author: Alena Damaris
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Rajendra Arya
Photographs: PKM Team on KOSMOT-ZeroGRK