The Greenana Silage Entrepreneurial Student Team from the Chemical Engineering Study Program of the Sumatra Institute of Technology (ITERA) in Bandar Lampung has developed a sustainable innovation by creating silage or preserved animal forage using banana peel waste.
In order to develop this innovation, a team of students guided by Deviany, Lecturer at Itera’s Chemical Engineering Study Program, visited and discussed collaboration with PT Great Giant Livestock (PT GGL) in Central Lampung. The purpose of this visit is to start cooperation in producing silage from banana peel waste for commercial purposes. The development of this innovation has succeeded in obtaining funding from the Student Entrepreneurship Development Program (P2MW) in 2023. Deviany said that silage from banana peel waste is an innovative solution that has the potential to increase the added value of agricultural products while reducing environmental impacts. The manufacturing process uses anaerobic fermentation techniques, making silage an effective strategy for preserving animal feed and increasing its nutrition.
As part of the Great Giant Foods (GGF) business unit, PT GGL has succeeded in creating a similar product by utilizing pineapple peel waste. The Greenana Silage entrepreneurial team, consisting of five students under the guidance of Deviany, is committed to developing products that can help livestock farmers and make a positive contribution to the local economy. This innovative project started from an assignment outside the industrial microbiology course at Itera Chemical Engineering Bandar Lampung, by considering the potential of banana peel waste in Lampung. The team used basic knowledge about fermentation to design this project to process banana peel waste into a silage product that has economic value.
A visit to PT GGL was the first step in realizing this idea. The team gained in-depth insight into silage production techniques and also had direct discussions with a team of experts led by Surya Retnaningrum, Head of the Feedmill, Research and QC Department. Gregorius Aris Tjahja, Head of the External Relations Sub Department of Great Giant Foods (GGF), welcomed this collaboration and hopes that silage products from banana peel waste can be successfully marketed locally.
