Khilda has had unimaginable personal setbacks like sexual abuse, bankruptcy , cancer and theft. Through all this her only desire has been to offer and help.

Her training in environmental engineering has given her the skills to invent bio plastics, biofuels and her ability to reach out and connect has allowed her to design a waste banking system that works entirely on trash.

The Sampahkoe community founded by Khilda has over the last eleven years looked at various aspects of waste collection and connected these successfully to other social issues to incentivise the collection and seggregation of waste.

The waste banks set up by Khilda in 15 cities in Indonesia, work on a system of directly translating waste into credit. Each city has one central waste bank and about 500 small waste banks. Trash from the small waste banks is collected at the central waste bank where it is categorised into 110 types of waste, each of which has a particular resale value.

People from all over the city deposit their trash at these banks and get credit in return. This credit can either be encashed or be used to buy grocery or other supplies from local shops and  supermarkets. Users of the waste bank are also given ATM cards that can be used at shopping malls.

The price paid to the users for their trash depends on the type of trash and level of segregation.

This banking system has been adopted and is being run by the government. The banks also have employees that segregate the trash if it is not segregated at source.

This segregated trash is sold to respective vendors for recycling. The salaries of the employees and money paid for bringing trash all comes from the income generated by selling the trash itself.

This system has been able to reduce the trash in landfill by upto 20% in some cities.

Khilda has set up centres for upcycling of waste in various parts of the country. Each center has about 40 employees that help make creative and sellable products from trash. These centres work efficiently due to division of labour among the employees. They are able to produce quality output at affordable prices which is then sold to hotels, corporates, home decor companies and at collaborated galleries.

Organic waste is converted to compost or used to make beautiful bowls and glasses, dry leaves are used for decor items, tea bags for cards and other decorative items, toothpaste tubes for bags and pencil pouches, and newspaper for accessories, magazine stands and many more.

They have collaborated to create various types of composting methods like Takakura and Biopori that solve various composting related problems.

The biopori is a vertical cylindrical absorption hole made into the ground. This hole is then filled with organic waste such as garden waste (leaves and branches), kitchen waste (vegetable and animal bone), and waste products from pulp (cardboard and paper). The organic waste dumped in this hole can then feed the soil fauna , which in turn creates pores in the soil. It converts waste into compost and helps to overcome water logging by increasing the water absorption capacity of the soil. This is believed to be useful as a flood prevention and help maintain water level during dry seasons. The Biopori is harvested regularly and the compost that forms is removed with the help of tools. This makes the space available again for the next round of wet waste.

The compost is used for organic farming and filling of land mines to replenish the nutrients of soil. Biopori also helps to replenish the water level of dry lands.

Khilda has also initiated organic farming in small areas using the Japanese technique called Takakura for urban residents that makes food available for free to the urban poor.

Khilda’s team has successfully created alternative biofuels like bioethanol from over 40 types of organic waste like pineapples, banana skin, leftovers of rice plants etc.

This bioethanol is more efficient than traditional fuels like petrol and diesel. One liter of bioethanol can last upto 15 days when used for cooking 7 hours per day. They have also designed a cooker that can use this fuel and are designing motor vehicles that can run on bioethanol.

Khilda also supplies this bioethanol in solid form to the Indonesian military for cooking at high altitudes.

They have designed portable biogas plant that people can take with them when shifting from one house to another. Since this biogas plant is completely enclosed, it does not emit any bad odours.