Trashion Transforms Rubbish into Treasures

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Poor Indonesian homemakers and trash pickers are discovering economic opportunities through transforming trash into new products sold in U.S., Australian and Malaysian markets.

Plastic Works, based in Jakarta, makes wallets, umbrellas and shower curtains from plastic packaging it buys from scavengers for 66 cents per kilogram, the Associated Press reported. As many as 1,000 items selling for $25 to $85 each are sold in the U.S. through Monsoon Vermont, an American online eco-shop. Founder Aswin Aditya trains homemakers to make "trashion" items for export.

The trend stands to benefit in a country where there are few recycling centers and uncollected garbage is burned or abandoned on streets. "What we do is small, but every little bit helps," Aditya said.

Another venture, the Jakarta-based XS Project, founded in 2002, helps the trash pickers by buying plastic garbage ranging from drinking straws to toothpaste tubes for use in one-of-a-kind products, such as purses and bags. The XS project is the brainchild of Ann Wizer, a visual artist and environmental activist seeking to draw attention to the issue of unmanaged consumer waste.

In March, trashion took center stage at Asia-wide Eco-Chic, a fashion show that sported computer chip dresses and frock made from plastic wrap. And in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, students at a local community college are offered a trashion class that transforms rubbish produced at the school into clothing through the Community Reuse and Recycling Network, the BBC reported.

In the U.S., TerraCycle recently made headlines for penning a deal with Kraft to "upcycle" used plastic energy bar, cookie and drink packaging into bags and purses.