Muhammad Syukur, A. Octamaya Tenri Awaru, Zainal Arifin, Anwar
Poor households have not utilized plastic waste that pollutes their environment to be processed as commercial goods that have ecological and economic benefits. This research aims to: 1) seek roots of problem among poor households that have not took advantage of plastic waste as a source of livelihood and 2) empower poor household economy through plastic waste recycling for a competitive and sustainable commercial purpose. The research data collection used in-depth interview method, observation, focus group discussion, and literature study. Data analysis is conducted through three stages, namely: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The research results indicate that various roots of problem causing the poor household for not utilizing plastic waste include: low level of education, lack of skills, weak social network, no access to financial institutions, and no collective awareness among the societies. There are three competitive and sustainable handicrafts that could be developed for the poor households including making brooch, lantern, and plastic flower. Various strategies that could be used to empower the household, namely: arouse critical awareness and strengthen poor household capacity, planning, organizing, implementing, evaluation, and business development. Other efforts that could be done for the sustainability of poor household handicraft business, among others: build social network, access to information, micro business access to banking, and family financial management. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.
Departement of Sociology Education, Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, Universitas Negeri Makassar, Makassar, Indonesia; Departement of History Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Halu-Oleo Kendari, Indonesia
