Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)
On a Friday morning in Bekasi, a city of three million people on the eastern edge of Greater Jakarta, worshippers arriving at their local mosque bring sorted bundles of plastic bottles or flattened cardboard. They leave it at a designated point not as rubbish, but as sedekah, an act of charity.
This is GRADASI in practice. GRADASI (Gerakan Sedekah Sampah Indonesia) is an interfaith- and community-based waste initiative that embeds responsible waste behaviours into the fabric of trusted religious and social institutions: mosques, schools, community groups and neighbourhood associations.
Since its launch in 2021, GRADASI has grown to around 1.3 million participants across Indonesia.
Now, UNDP Indonesia, in partnership with Clean Rivers, an Erth Zayed Philanthropies affiliate and UAE-backed foundation working at the intersection of waste and water, are expanding the movement to five Indonesian cities — Bekasi, Surabaya, Surakarta, Sidoarjo, and Bali.
The interfaith waste charity movement reframes household waste sorting as an act of charity, rather than a civic obligation or environmental duty. Congregants donate recyclable waste the same way they might donate food or money. Organic waste is composted or converted into agricultural feed.
In many communities, GRADASI has also evolved to include activities such as maggot cultivation, urban farming, animal feed production, and fisheries. Collected recyclables are consolidated and sold to recyclers, with proceeds reinvested into local community initiatives.
At the heart of this movement is a simple but powerful idea: waste has value and giving it away is a contribution to the community. In a country where mosques serve not just as places of worship but as hubs of community life and civic mobilisation, that reframing carries real weight.
"Behaviour change at the community level is one of the most powerful tools we have," says Deborah Backus, CEO of Clean Rivers. "GRADASI shows what becomes possible when you work with the institutions communities already trust, and protecting our environment from waste is everyone’s responsibility."
Indonesia is facing a mounting waste challenge as one of the largest waste producers globally and the world’s fifth largest contributor to plastic waste leaking into the ocean. An estimated 75% of its waste is mismanaged, ending up in open dumps, openly burnt or leaking into waterways, with widespread environmental, social and economic impacts.
In recent years, the Indonesian government has enforced stricter waste management measures and waste remains high on its national strategic agenda.
“GRADASI shows that a development challenge such as waste management is not only about protecting the environment, but also about creating reliable income opportunities, strengthening livelihoods, and reducing vulnerability in communities. What is inspiring is how communities themselves are leading this movement from the ground up. They are building collective action, reinforcing community bonds, and educating future generations to reduce waste and care for the environment together,” says Sara Ferrer Olivella, UNDP Indonesia Resident Representative.
The Clean Rivers and UNDP Indonesia-led expansion will focus on establishing permanent GRADASI centres as community-based waste collection hubs, with members trained in waste segregation, recycling, and composting. The model is designed to grow organically, as local leaders build capacity and participation increases, the ambition is for communities to carry the programme forward independently and rooted in local ownership.
The initiative received a significant institutional boost in February 2026, when Indonesia's Minister of Environment called for the expansion of GRADASI across houses of worship nationwide. It was a milestone reflecting the programme’s scale and resonance, and a signal that community-led approaches can move from neighbourhood pilots to national policy.
