A Mobile-Based Waste Sorting Application to Support Sustainable Waste Management in Indonesia

Indonesia's greatest challenges with managing municipal solid waste remain at the household level. A lack of proper waste sorting results in low recycling rates and high reliance on landfills. This paper discusses the design, development, and evaluation of an application to help households waste sort more accurately and more consistently. The application incorporates waste sorting education, waste sorting pictures, and interactive situational contextual education to assist users better understand the disposal decision making process. A systematic software development process was utilized to help in the development of a more reliable and a more usable system. The system was evaluated with user testing and a household users’ survey evaluation. The application has increased users’ understanding of waste sorting and has promoted responsible waste disposal. This study has shown that mobile technology can be used to support and sustain appropriate waste disposal systems and to support biospheric balance, directly advancing SDG 11 and SDG 12.