The movement of young people is one of the key factors in addressing the waste problem in Yogyakarta. This time, Renou, a start-up founded by students from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), has introduced an innovation that transforms waste into furniture products.
Speaking at the UGM Podcast on Friday (Aug. 22), Alan Putra Wijaya, a Management student at the UGM Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB UGM), and Muhammad Fikri Iedfi Darmawan, an Environmental Infrastructure Engineering student at the UGM Faculty of Engineering (FT UGM), shared their journey in building a business born out of concern for Yogyakarta’s waste crisis.
Renou is a start-up that processes plastic waste into finished goods, particularly High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) waste.
This type of plastic is commonly found in detergent packaging, shampoo bottles, and other plastic containers.
Wijaya explained that the business idea originated from a fourth-semester course assignment, coinciding with the time when Yogyakarta was declared to be facing a waste crisis.
He took the initiative to establish a business that could contribute to solving the problem.
“At that time, there was a community program called srawung desa, where we learned about maggot farming in villages. From there, the desire grew to help tackle the waste crisis through community involvement,” said Wijaya.
He realized that while waste management innovations were emerging organically within communities, no recognized industry had yet specialized in the processing of inorganic waste.
The name Renou was chosen for its simplicity and catchiness.
Since terms like eco, renewable, or green were already widely used, Wijaya and his team worked hard to come up with something unique.
He admitted that the name Renou originated from a brainstorming process with his team, inspired by modifying the word renew with the help of ChatGPT.
“We’re not exactly the most creative people, so we were struggling to find a name. Initially, we modified ‘renew’ into ‘Renou’ to make it stand out more,” Wijaya added.
When asked about the planning process that led Renou to become a start-up, Wijaya explained that the team underwent approximately four months of research.
Starting from understanding plastic types and sorting them, to finding partners who could supply plastic waste for furniture production.
This journey was not undertaken by Wijaya alone.
Together with his team and professionals, they gradually gained an understanding of waste processing and the industry’s operations.
One of the current challenges for Renou is sourcing suitable plastic waste.
Darmawan elaborated on the difficulties of managing this material, particularly plastic bottle caps, which form the main input for Renou’s products.
Collecting tens of kilograms of this specific type of waste, he said, requires strong collaboration with local governments and waste collection networks.
“To make just one product, we need about 10-11 kilograms of plastic bottle caps. The bottles themselves are still there, and those we send to our partners to ensure we don’t generate more waste,” Darmawan explained.
He added that residual materials from the production process are also reprocessed into other items such as bracelets and cabinets.
The principle of Renou is to process waste without creating new waste.
Although still students, Wijaya and Darmawan continue to balance their academic obligations with managing the business.
They admitted that it is not easy to divide their time, but support from various parties has been a key pillar in ensuring Renou’s sustainability.
Both Wijaya and Darmawan are aware that waste management cannot be solved without collaboration and synergy across sectors.
End-to-end management is a systemic process that begins within individuals themselves.
As young entrepreneurs, they hope that Renou will continue to inspire future movements and innovations in environmental management.
Author: Tasya
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Lintang Andwyna
Photographer: Donnie Trisfian