Ministry Of Waste: Turning plastic waste into profit

Ministry of Waste tackles ocean-bound and beach plastics in Indonesia. Connecting local disadvantaged communities to global leaders of sustainability and waste industry innovators to turn waste into revenue.

Founded in 2018 by Samanta Skrivere, Ministry of Waste connects disadvantaged and polluted communities in Asia with waste industry innovators and global leaders of sustainability by creating a recycled ocean-bound and beach plastic supply chain which stops litter before it enters the ocean. The uniqueness of Ministry of Waste is that they don’t rely on volunteers but allow local communities to profit from this new demand for ocean-bound plastic – by employing them, as well as eliminating many middlemen in the supply chain by trading directly with the final client, therefore being able to pay their local community members fair wages and give them trust and security in their future.

Ministry of Waste is a brand new social enterprise, just about to launch their recycled ocean-bound/beach plastic supply chain in Indonesia, but they have had a few great milestones to boost them on the way – they integrated the Cambridge University Judge Business School Social Venture Incubator, are just about to join another social impact incubator in Jakarta, Indonesia and have had success in securing their first clients, not forgetting the great welcome by Indonesians and many organizations with whom they hope to create long-lasting partnerships. All this has helped them tremendously in building towards their launch in 2 locations in Indonesia.

The team is currently securing its first warehouses and looking to hire its first local team members in Indonesia (from operations managers to their land and sea cleanup crew), and starting full-time beach cleanups. In the next year, Ministry of Waste aims to expand in Indonesia to cover as many provinces and islands as possible, turning plastic waste and other beach-bound waste products into profit for local communities.