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| The Process of Separating Orange Peel from Orange Fruit Plup (Photo: Special) |
Oranges are one of the most produced fruits in Malang Regency. However, the community only utilizes the flesh of the fruit and discards the peel without processing it into something useful. Observing this, a team of students from the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), through the Student Creativity Program for Community Service (PKM-PM), innovated by creating orange peel briquettes to help the residents of Tegalweru Village, Dau District, Malang Regency.
Berlinda Amalia Diami, the team leader, explained that seeing the unprocessed and rotting orange peels made them uneasy. Moreover, these peels can be transformed and used more effectively. Orange peel waste can be processed into briquettes with high economic value, thereby improving the local community's economy. Briquettes are blocks of combustible material used as fuel to start and maintain a fire.
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"Most of the residents there are orange farmers. They mainly rely on income from their orchards and do not have a stable income. Therefore, we collaborated with the local youth organization and some orange farmers to collect orange peel waste, which is then processed into briquettes," she said.
Berlinda also mentioned that managing orange peel waste takes about a week to achieve optimal results. After collecting the orange peel waste with the local youth organization, the peels are placed in barrels for the burning process. Then, they wait until the orange peels turn dark brown.
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After the burning process, the orange peels need to be ground using a chopper, then sieved to facilitate the mixing process into a dough before being transformed into briquettes. "The mixed dough we made is then molded and dried under the sun for 6 to 7 days. After this long process, perfect briquettes are produced," she explained.
The briquettes they made have many benefits, such as being used as fuel for cooking. Additionally, this program can be utilized by the local youth organization as a business opportunity to sell briquettes at several tourist destinations around the village.
"We have also collaborated with the Village-Owned Enterprises (Bumdes) to support and facilitate the youth organization and local community to continue this creative idea. This way, the community gains valuable skills and can improve the village's economy," she added.
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Furthermore, Berlinda and her team also created a guidebook for the local community. The book aims to ensure that the program they started can continue in the future and not end when their PKM program is over. (ri/wil/fajr)
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