MICRO FINANCE - Recycle Waste Savings Product from Indonesia

Every week the blog will feature a different finalist of the Islamic Microfinance Challenge and share the project’s ideas and innovation

 
Our business idea for the Islamic Microfinance Challenge 2010 was to mobilize savings using a Recycled Waste Savings Product.  The project was designed to address pollution and waste management issues in the capital city of Bandung, in the West Java province of Indonesia.   Approximately 2,000 tons of waste is collected on a daily basis in the city alone.

We at BISMA feel that microfinance institutions (MFIs) can participate in solving this problem by mobilizing savings in the community through waste collection.  Our idea is that MFIs collect waste from community members, and pay for the waste collected.  However, instead of paying for it with cash, MFIs will open a savings account for each student or community member who has collected the waste. The collected waste will then be sold to either a waste power plant or the city’s waste recycling company. (full story)

CGAP - Micro finance blog (series on Islamic microfinance) and award for Bina Insan Sjahtera Mandiri (BISMA)

The CGAP Microfinance Blog, which is operated by US-based think tank CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) is featuring a series on Islamic microfinance that profiles the winner and finalists of the Islamic Microfinance Challenge and others in an effort to engage with the broader microfinance and Islamic finance communities to find new ways to support the Islamic microfinance sector. The Islamic Microfinance Series can be found at http://microfinance.cgap.org/category/blog-series/islamic-microfinance-series/ (full story)