One woman from Padang in Indonesia is taking on the plastic waste problem directly - by sewing it into new and useful products.

Sri Ningsih sews empty plastic sachets for drink powders, and other plastic waste, into sheets that she then turns into aprons, bags, tablecloths and more.

The plastic comes from waste delivered to the Sakinah Waste Bank in Batu Gadang Village in Padang City, West Sumatra Province.

Sri Ningsih then hands the products back to the Waste Bank, where they are sold. She earns around five dollars a day from this micro-business.

Indonesia is one of the largest plastic polluters on earth, with much of it ending up in its own rivers and seas. Recognising the issue, some areas of the country have introduced or have promised to introduce bans on plastic bags recently.

Sri Ningsih, a resident of Padang Indonesia, is busy sewing used plastic wrap for beverage products. He sews the plastic waste into products that can be sold, such as aprons, bags, tablecloths and others.

The plastic wrap of food and beverage products is garbage owned by residents and merchants, which are collected or delivered to the Sakinah Waste Bank, which is not far from his home, in the Batu Gadang Village, Padang City, West Sumatra Province.

Plastic waste which is a scourge of environmental destruction, because it is often thrown into places, into rivers, to the sea, is now used to be a livelihood for residents. like Sri Ningsih, who can earn 50 thousand rupiah per day from the stitches, which he then hands over to the Waste Bank to be marketed again. One apron, for example, is sold at a price of 30 thousand rupiah.

Not only Sri Ningsih, there are a number of housewives around her residence who also sew plastic waste into useful products.

Even though they have not been able to suppress the amount of plastic waste due to the absence of rules for prohibiting plastic food packaging, Sri Ningsih's efforts can at least reduce the amount of waste scattered everywhere and damage the environment, because it cannot be decomposed by soil.