ITB Students Develop Organic Hand Sanitizer From Farm Waste

Students of the School of Life Sciences and Technology (SITH-S) Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) succeeded in developing an organic hand sanitizer (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Students of the School of Life Sciences and Technology (SITH-S) of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) have succeeded in developing an organic hand sanitizer called Eco-Tizer which is made from agricultural waste.

An organic hand sanitizer product developer led by student Afina Naufal Nur Islami (BM'20) in a press release of ITB's Public Relations, Tuesday, said the development of this product was carried out in Cikidang Village, Lembang District, West Bandung Regency.

The creation of the Eco-Tizer is the result of student community service activities from 6 to 14 November 2021.

The student, who is majoring in microbiology and biology, also educates the public about the dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of maintaining cleanliness at this time.

Apart from educating, Afina said, the community about the dangers of a pandemic, they also guide villagers to be able to make organic-based sanitizers from their harvested residue.

This activity was carried out by implementing health protocols and the entire team had also carried out a swab test before going to the village.

This activity begins with the manufacture of eco-enzyme for eight to 10 days and this eco-enzyme comes from residents' agricultural waste in the form of lettuce that has fallen off the outside.

After the eco-enzyme was made, the activity continued with the manufacture of eco-enzyme-based hand sanitizer.

"With this program, it is hoped that the community can continue to make eco-enzyme-based hand sanitizers to overcome several existing problems in a sustainable manner," she said.

In this activity, the community will get a prototype of an eco-enzyme-based hand sanitizer that has been made previously.

After the Eco-Tizer has been successfully made, Afina said the team led by her plans to carry out an anti-microbial test with the test microbes Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans.

"In the future, hopefully this Eco-Tizer can be developed into a commercial product," said Afina.

Previously this activity was carried out in the context of a community service program for students under the auspices of the Directorate of Student Affairs (Ditmawa) ITB.

This service event went well thanks to the support of Ditmawa and the residents who enthusiastically participated in this activity from beginning to end.

"Hopefully this Eco-Tizer can play a role as a local product that is useful for many people," Afina said.