What began as a home baking business in Kampung Masigit, Bojonegara District, Serang Regency, has grown into a community effort that turns household waste into income and charity. At the center of that shift is Amaliyah, a PNM Mekaar customer who built Amalia Kitchen and later expanded her work into a neighborhood waste management initiative.
The effort shows how waste sorting at the source can move beyond a simple household habit. In Amaliyah’s case, the practice now connects family earnings, community participation, and social assistance in one system.
From kitchen production to useful byproducts
Amaliyah started her home-based cake business in 2019 through Amalia Kitchen. As production increased, so did the amount of waste, but she did not treat it as material to discard without thought.
Instead, part of the business waste was processed into items that still had value, including aromatherapy products and ecobrick sofas. That step demonstrates that waste from small household businesses can enter a further stage of processing rather than ending at sorting alone.
Support from PNM Mekaar in 2023 strengthened that direction. Through the program, Amaliyah received additional capital, guidance, and coaching to develop her business while widening its benefits for people around her.
A neighborhood habit turned into a bank sampah
The next change came when Amaliyah invited local women to sort their waste at home before bringing it together. From that simple invitation, Bank Sampah MATA was formed, with the name standing for Masigit Asri Tanpa Sampah.
The initiative has since developed into a community-based system that involves residents in more orderly and measurable waste management. It now has 86 active members, all part of a structure that gives household waste a clear economic role.
Residents who submit sorted waste receive cash rewards based on the weight of what they hand over. That model gives immediate financial value to waste that was previously seen as useless.
Economic benefit and social impact
The financial incentive also helps change how residents think about daily waste. Materials that once ended up in the trash can now become extra household income, which encourages more people to sort their waste consistently.
For Amaliyah, however, the effort is not only about money. Part of the proceeds is also set aside to help dhuafa and orphaned children in Kampung Masigit, extending the impact beyond bank sampah members.
That social function has helped the movement grow into something larger than a recycling habit. It has become a local example of how a small household initiative can strengthen solidarity while supporting people in need.
A measurable drop in waste volume
The community’s work has also produced a clear environmental result. Waste sent to the final disposal site has fallen from 900 kilograms per month to around 400 kilograms per month.
That decline shows that community-based waste management can deliver measurable outcomes when it is done consistently and in an organized way. In Kampung Masigit, waste is no longer viewed only as a burden, but as a resource that can support family income, social care, and cleaner surroundings.
