Occupational Health & Safety Training, Support for Waste Workers to Live a Better Life

As a form of commitment Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Indonesia (CCCEP) to manage PET bottle waste ethically and sustainably, CCEP together with Dynapack Asia established the Foundation Mahija Parahita Nusantara (Mahija) Foundation, to ensure responsible procurement of post-consumption PET bottles, while promoting the welfare of waste workers in the recycling supply chain.

Based on this mission, Mahija continues to strive for fair and safe waste management, and focuses on improving the lives of waste workers. This effort also aims to address the fundamental challenges that waste workers, especially waste pickers, often face, such as lack of recognition as citizens and limited access to equipment and a decent and safe working environment.

In addition to the various regular programs that Mahija focuses on, one of Mahija's responsibilities is to implement the Responsible Sourcing Initiative (RSI) Indonesia project, which was initiated by The Circulate Initiative (TCI), a non-profit organization dedicated to tackling the problem of plastic pollution in the oceans.

RSI is a program that aims to ensure that plastic waste management is done fairly and responsibly. It involves all actors in the waste management chain-from waste pickers to producers-with the aim of protecting workers' rights at every stage of the process. The initiative has become a global benchmark for ethical recycling practices, with the welfare of waste workers at the forefront.

Under the project, which was officially launched in October 2024, Mahija has successfully started implementation in five collection centers (Collection Center) within the Amandina Bumi Nusantara ecosystem located in Greater Jakarta and Subang, West Java. One of the priority programs in this initiative is occupational health and safety training aimed specifically at waste pickers and waste workers. This program is targeted to reach more than 4,200 waste pickers in various key areas.

In the plastic recycling system, waste pickers and garbage workers are at the forefront. They play an important role in collecting and sorting recyclable materials, but often do so without adequate health and safety protection.

Since the beginning of the year until June 2025, this occupational safety & health training has organized 18 trainings and reached 710 waste pickers at various points collection centers and waste picker communities in Jakarta, Bekasi, and surrounding areas. This training is crucial to provide insight on how to work healthily and safely, as they have been working without adequate protection.

In this activity, the participants received hands-on training from medical professionals working with Mahija. The training materials include: Safe waste handling methods to prevent skin diseases or infections, the importance of using protective equipment such as gloves and closed shoes, personal hygiene education and work environment to prevent disease transmission due to direct contact with household and medical waste.

More than just training, this program is a concrete step towards making waste pickers part of an organized, protected and sustainable recycling system. organized, protected and sustainable recycling system..

Through this program, Mahija wants to emphasize that the responsibility for plastic waste management is not only about the environment. is not only about the environmentenvironment, but also about quality of human life who drive the process.

In addition to being the main theme, the health and safety training is also complemented by materials on security, financial management, and child life planning, as support to promote a more decent livelihood. 

Together with strategic partners, CCEP will continue to ensure that waste workers receive fair protection, are part of a more organized system, and are well taken care of.