In a village in West Lombok, Indonesia, a former government worker is turning waste into wealth and, in doing so, creating a blueprint for climate resilience that the world needs to see ahead of COP30.
Seven years ago, Paizul watched his village drown in rubbish. In Kekait, waste choked the rivers, lined roads, and piled up at doorsteps. It was a scene replicated across Indonesia – where 600 metric tonnes of waste is generated each day on the island of Lombok alone, 40% being non-biodegradable.
Most people complained. Paizul acted.
What began as one man’s determination to clean his own doorstep has become a thriving waste management revolution that demonstrates precisely what COP30 negotiators will be discussing in Belem this November: how circular economy principles can slash emissions while lifting communities out of poverty.
From rivers of waste to rivers of opportunity
“When I was working in the government, I often received complaints about waste,” recalls Paizul, 49. “People found it difficult to sort waste into different types. This lack of understanding made them unwilling to adopt proper waste management practices.”
Open dumping was the norm in Kekait, where rivers served as disposal sites. The environmental cost – methane emissions from decomposing waste, water contamination, and ecosystem destruction – was devastating. But Paizul refused to accept this as inevitable.
Three words that changed everything
The breakthrough came when Paizul established the Kekait Berseri Waste Bank – the name in translation means ‘clean, healthy, beautiful’. As its founder and local champion, Paizul and his team maintain meticulous records in a savings and sales ledger, documenting every transaction from waste deposits by residents to the sale of recyclable materials. The waste bank runs 3 programmes that turned waste from burden into asset
Tsabit (waste to seed) allows community members to exchange sorted waste for plant seedlings. Tsapu (waste to fertiliser) converts organic waste into nutrient-rich compost. Sedekah (charitable giving) enables people to donate their waste proceeds to community causes.
People deposit sorted waste into 2 compost bins provided by the village, choosing seeds or fertiliser in return. No money changes hands, but value flows abundantly – in improved soil quality, home gardens bursting with vegetables, and a community learning to see waste as resource rather than rubbish.
Meanwhile, Paizul’s wife transforms inorganic waste into high-quality household items – carpets, tissue boxes, water containers. Each piece is plastic diverted from landfills and virgin materials conserved.
The climate connection
The significance of the project in Kekait stretches far beyond West Lombok. Indonesia is the world’s second-largest food waste disposer, and municipal solid waste is one of the country’s major contributors to climate change. Open dumping sites release methane and nitrous oxide – greenhouse gases with warming potentials 28 and 265 times greater than carbon dioxide respectively.
The circular economy approach pioneered by Paizul directly tackles these emissions. By keeping organic waste out of landfills and transforming it into compost, Kekait Berseri prevents methane generation. By recycling inorganic materials, it reduces energy-intensive production of new plastics and metals.
Similar waste management initiatives across Indonesia have demonstrated that replacing virgin materials with recycled alternatives can save over 75,000 metric tonnes of CO₂ emissions. At a time when 45% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from how we make and use products and food, the waste revolution in Kekait offers tangible solutions.
Building capacity, not dependency
Paizul’s system doesn’t rely on him alone. “Anyone who wants to understand waste management is warmly embraced,” he explains. His vision extends beyond immediate impact: “Waste that has economic value is converted into money. With the income, we can add the necessary equipment to this waste bank.”
Islamic Relief is supporting the waste bank through our FOMAPRO project. By providing shariah-compliant microfinance alongside technical training, the project enables community members like Paizul to start waste management businesses based on circular economy principles.
The model works because it recognises what top-down climate programmes often miss: communities already possess the ingenuity and commitment needed for climate action. What they need are resources, knowledge, and space to innovate – not prescriptive solutions designed elsewhere.
COP30: Where village practicality meets global ambition
As world leaders prepare to convene in Belem, Brazil, from 10-21 November 2025, initiatives like Kekait Berseri offer crucial insights into effective climate action.
COP30 will feature dedicated thematic days on circular economy, waste management, and bioeconomy. Brazil’s newly-launched National Circular Economy Plan prioritises business models that eliminate waste and pollution – the parallels with Paizul’s waste bank are unmistakable.
The summit’s focus on the ‘Global Mutirão’ – a Brazilian concept of collective community effort – echoes what’s happening in Kekait. COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago stated that “the circular economy is certainly one of the instruments we need to make sure that we fight climate change as quickly as possible.”
Yet while only 27% of nations mention circular economy approaches in their climate pledges, communities like Kekait are proving that these systems really work. They reduce emissions, create livelihoods, improve public health, and build resilience.
Lessons for Belem
Today, Paizul is recognised as an environmental hero in West Lombok – a title earned through 7 years of persistent commitment. His waste bank attracts visitors from across the region, eager to replicate the model.
“This journey began with a personal concern for the piles of waste in my village,” he reflects. “Now I see it as part of something much bigger – showing that communities can lead the way in solving the climate crisis.”
As COP30 delegates debate carbon markets and emission targets, they would do well to remember Kekait. Not as a quaint grassroots example, but as proof that climate solutions already exist in communities worldwide.
The challenge isn’t inventing new approaches. It’s about recognising, resourcing, and scaling what’s already working. It’s about ensuring that global climate finance flows to community innovators like Paizul.
The circular economy isn’t a futuristic concept requiring advanced technology. It’s happening now, in villages like Kekait, led by quiet revolutionaries who looked at waste and chose to see opportunity instead.
As Paizul has shown, sometimes the most powerful climate action starts not with international agreements, but with one person refusing to accept the status quo. 7 years later, his village is cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous. The rivers run clear. And a model for climate resilience has been built, one piece of sorted waste at a time.
Islamic Relief continues to empower communities worldwide to develop climate-resilient livelihoods through innovative programmes that combine environmental stewardship with poverty reduction. Support our work by donating today.
