The circular economy is typically viewed through an ecological perspective: respecting the environment, preserving resources, reducing waste, etc. But it also offers strong economic advantages such as creating more jobs and improving economic conditions for the locals. For Vida Bekasi there is no better time than now to shift from their linear economy to the circular economy.
By partnering with Waste4Change, we have started to sort and recycle household’s waste in our housing complex. We reduce the amount of non-recycled waste to landfill and at the same time, we produce compost and recycled materials. We use compost in our organic urban farming ‘Farm4Life’ to produce vegetables, micro-greens and fruits. The fresh produce will be delivered to Little Talk Coffee and Jawara Food Hall for consumption, and in the future will be sold in our organic market ‘Pasar Anyar’.
Some of the fresh produce are delivered to Javara Indonesia as raw material and to be further processed and packed and to become a ready-to-cook or ready-to-eat products distributed in domestic and export market.
Over-view of the relationships between the players, the circular economy:
Sharing of knowledge and expertise,
The development of local distribution networks,
Responsible consumption and shared infrastructures
In addition, the jobs it generates are often tied to the social and solidarity economy.
In short, the circular economy in Vida Bekasi does not only preserves the environment, but also creates jobs and business, contributing to a more socially responsible community.