Muryani, Plastic Waste Distillation Machine

Defri Werdiono

· 6 minutes read

Since 2009, Muryani, 60, whose education only went as far as the first year of junior high school, has succeeded in making a plastic waste distillation machine after teaching herself to do it. In the last nine years, he has produced more than 100 distillation machines that can convert plastic waste into oil fuel.

Under the scorching heat in Wlingi subdistrict, Wlingi district, Blitar regency, East Java, on Thursday (20/6/2019), Muryani took a break. He was at a garbage bank/dumpsite right next to a public cemetery in the village.

Meanwhile, at a workshop located not far from Muryani, one of his children, Diding Rulianto, was busy finishing a distillation machine, an order from his consumer. The machine was made manually.

Assisted by his younger brothers Suripto and Diding, Muryani took 20 days on average to finish a machine. One machine with a capacity of 10 kilograms of garbage is sold for Rp 30 million, machines with a capacity of 30 kg are sold at Rp 55 million and those with a capacity of 50 kg are worth Rp 75 million. For the machines that have a capacity of 100 kg, the price is Rp 95 million.

So far, orders have come from a number of parties, especially the regency and municipality sanitation offices. The orders do not only come from Java Island, but also from other regions, such as Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"During 2019 there were seven orders. In a year there are 20 orders on average," he said.

According to Muryani, there are three types of fuel oil (BBM) produced from the recycling process of plastic waste using this homemade distillation machine. All three are diesel, gasoline and kerosene which he calls “BBM Plas”.

The volume of fuel from the distillation process varies, depending on the type of raw material. If the material being recycled is plastic bags, every 10 kg produces 5 to 6 liters of diesel fuel, 1.5 liters of kerosene, and 1 to 2 liters of gasoline. For PE/PP plastic (clear plastic, for example that used as the wrapper of granulated sugar), it can produce 6 liters of diesel fuel, 1.5 liters of kerosene, and 2.5 liters of gasoline.

With limited production, there are already customers who buy BBM Plas. Solar, for example, is usually bought by local farmers for their tractors. Similarly, gasoline is used for motorbikes, including for the operation of the three-wheeled motorbikes that are commonly used to carry garbage in his place of work.

Based on the information I have obtained, Indonesia is the second-largest producer of waste in the world," said the father of four

"I sell gasoline for Rp 7,000 per liter and diesel for Rp 6,000. The production of BBM is indeed low because I don\'t prioritize the amount, but I rather have the desire to be able to do something for the environment. Based on the information I have obtained, Indonesia is the second-largest producer of waste in the world," said the father of four.

Taught by his father

Muryani learned how to make a distillation machine from his father, the late Sutarji. When Muryani was in the fourth grade of elementary school, his father who worked as a farmer told him that plastic buckets could produce liquid if burned in special containers. The liquid can be ignited like BBM.

At that time Sutarji gave an example. He took a used can and put pieces of plastic bucket inside. A hole was made in the lid section of the can, and a pipe attached. The bottom part of the can was then burned. "It turns out that the can drips liquid that can burn when ignited," said the man who liked science at school.

Muryani practiced making the machine in 1978 while he lived as a trans-migrant in Lampung. Muryani was a trans-migrant from 1976 to 2002. "When I was in Lampung, I tried again, but the gasoline [fuel oil] that I produced could not be used for motorcycles," he said.

After returning to Java, in 2009, one of Muryani’s children, Didik Hermansyah, told him there was a large distillation machine in Japan. Didik got that information from the internet. Muryani, who felt that he had experience producing liquid fuels, immediately welcomed the child\'s proposal to make a distillation machine. Since 2004, he has been a member of the cleaning service or "yellow army" in Wlingi subdistrict, Blitar.

Then Muryani started making distillation machines. The material is from a plate and bottle of mineral water as a condenser (a cooler which also functions to sort the fuel). He used all his personal money for the project. The effort paid off, but the fuel that came out could not be used for vehicles. He needed to add the octane booster, and then the fuel could be utilized.

However, all of them needed additional octane booster," said the third child of four siblings

"After that, I kept trying to innovate, stage by stage. Until in 2010 I was able to sort out the fuel. At that time one distillation machine could release diesel fuel, kerosene and gasoline. However, all of them needed additional octane booster," said the third child of four siblings.

Now, even though the distillation machine that he created was bought by many people, it did not make Muryani quit the yellow army. Every day he continues to do his work, sorting and processing garbage. He also does not plan on establishing a distillation machine company himself.

Likewise, the money from the sales of the distillation machine does not go into his own pocket. The money is used for the salaries of the seven janitors, and for the operational costs of the garbage banks. Everything he does is merely to reduce the increasing amount of plastic waste. Muryani never thinks of making profit for himself.

My knowledge of natural science would not be of any benefit unless I also used my knowledge of social science

"The sales of used plastic waste are cheap and the recycled products will pollute the environment again. Perhaps I am imitating my parent who cares about the environment. My knowledge of natural science would not be of any benefit unless I also used my knowledge of social science," he said.

What Muryani did has also made a contribution to the world of education. The location of the waste bank has become a place of education. A number of university students from several cities in East Java made the model of waste management in that place as an object of research.

Not surprisingly, the man who plans to continue to innovate to develop his creation received a number of awards, both from the regency and provincial administrations in East Java. The relevant ministry also visited the waste bank where he worked and gave his appreciation.

Muryani

Born: Blitar, 11 November 1959

Wife: Sutriami (died)

Children:

- Diding Rulianto

- Didik Hermansyah - Pipit Ernawati

- Anton

Education:

- SDN Slorok, Doko district, Blitar

- SMP PGRI Wlingi (first year)

Awards:

- Winner in Creativity and Technology Contest in Blitar (2017)

- Second winner in Technology Innovation in East Java (2017)

- Environment conservation from Blitar regent (2018)

- Pioneer in waste processing into fuel from the Blitar Police (2019)

Editor:

kompascetak