During biology expeditions into Indonesia’s national parks, Arka Irfani and Semeru Gita Lestari expected to find untouched forests. Instead, even in places rarely reached by humans, they found plastic waste. Driven by this experience, both of them founded Bell Living Lab, an innovative biotech enterprise that turns agricultural waste into sustainable biomaterials.
With the many Indonesian commodities generating large amounts of waste, they experimented with different agricultural by-products before finally focusing on coffee. As the fourth-largest coffee producer in the world, Indonesia has an abundance of coffee waste. But not just that – they saw an opportunity in the growing coffee shop scene.
Today, Bell Living Lab turns coffee waste into biomaterials for fashion accessories, furniture, and interior panels. Their materials are designed to naturally biodegrade and are colored using natural dyes. However, although the interest in sustainability is rising, they realized over time that’s not the sole reason why customers decide to buy.
At the end of the day, the product needs to be something people genuinely want to use. Does it function well? Is it well designed? Does it look good? Those questions are just as important as the environmental story behind the product. These days, Bell Living Lab’s biomaterials have appeared in international exhibitions as the company continues to expand its wings into overseas markets.
As Bell Living Lab grows, so does its impact. Coffee farmers now have an additional source of income by selling waste that used to have little value. The company also works with vocational schools to develop sewing talent. One graduate eventually built his own production team, which now supports Bell Living Lab and other clients.
In the past year, Bell Living Lab has been preparing for its next stage of growth through the I-SEA (Instellar & IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator) program. IKEA mentors and thought partners from around the globe are supporting the company in improving production systems, workshop planning, and product development. Arka believes the support brings Bell Living Lab one step closer to becoming a company that can consistently serve larger markets.
Looking ahead, Arka hopes Bell Living Lab can help position Indonesia as a leader in biomaterials. “Indonesia has everything it needs to become a leader in biomaterials. We have abundant natural resources and so much agricultural waste that can be put to better use,” he ended.
