Through the Student Creativity Program in Entrepreneurship (PKM-K) in the 34th National Student Scientific Week (PIMNAS), which was held this year, five UGM students created product innovations in the form of a multifunctional Bluetooth speaker made from plastic waste that won bronze medals. The five students were Hafifah Putri Varadhias (Accounting 2018) as the team leader, Amirul Fauzan Ibrahim (Mechanical Engineering 2018), Rifki Kurniawan (Mathematics 2018), Mukhsin Al Fikri Lubis (Electrical Engineering 2019), and Syafaat Mahrus Ali (Electrical Engineering 2019).
The thing that drives the creation of this unique product innovation is the negative impact on the environment caused by the problem of plastic waste. Plastic waste is a problem because it is difficult for plastic to decompose and often the handling of this waste is done by dumping it or burning it. One of the efforts that should be made by the community regarding plastic waste is the 3R (reuse, reduce, recycle) movement. The innovation of this Bluetooth speaker with the power bank feature is also a form of creative solution in answering the problem of plastic waste.
Saura is the name the team picked for the product and it has a beautiful sound meaning. The message the team wants to convey is that even trash can make a sound through product innovations such as this multifunctional Bluetooth speaker. This product is said to be multifunctional because it has a speaker feature as well as a charger with a capacity of 7500mAh. Saura also carries a unique concept because the product has a marble-like pattern that cannot be produced manually using wood or ordinary printed plastic. In addition, the recycled HDPE type of plastic waste which is the basic material for Saura’s products has a class IV compressive strength equivalent to sengon wood (285 kg/cm2) and a tensile strength equivalent to teak wood. Not only multifunctional and unique, Saura is also practical, easy to carry everywhere, and affordable.
With the creation of this product innovation made from plastic waste, the team does not solely focus on product quality and sales, but the team also hopes that this product can be a pioneer of goodness that inspires people to care more about the environment, especially regarding the problem of plastic waste that cannot be separated from daily life. In addition, the creation of social impact through increasing environmentally friendly product options for consumers and empowering sales partners to improve people’s lives are also targets for the team to achieve with the presence of this product.
Reportage: Kirana Lalita Pristy/Sony Budiarso.
