Honest Made

Honest Made is born from a simple but urgent reality: in Lombok, plastic waste is part of everyday life, yet there is no functioning recycling system to manage it. Lombok sits within a wider South East Asia plastic crisis, where rapid development, growing consumption, and limited waste infrastructure mean communities are often left to manage the consequences on their own. Communities face limited options : dumping, burning, or burying plastic and carrying the environmental and health burden without the infrastructure or support to do things differently. Without proper collection and processing, plastic easily ends up in rivers and the ocean, affecting ecosystems, livelihoods, and public health. This gap becomes the starting point for co-founders Tom Jackson and Lachie Armstrong, who share a belief that meaningful change begins locally, with practical systems that communities can sustain.

Tom (UK) brings years of experience working in Indonesia’s waste sector, where he sees firsthand how breakdowns in collection, processing, and accountability leave communities behind. Lachie (AU), a trained carpenter, brings a hands-on approach to building practical solutions that work in real conditions and can grow over time. Together, they combine technical insight with a problem-solving mindset, building an organisation focused not only on recycling, but on reshaping how materials move through a community.

Today, the organisation operates South Lombok’s first recycling and manufacturing centre, a facility that manages every step of plastic processing under one roof. Collected plastics are carefully sorted by type and colour, washed and cleaned to remove contaminants, shredded into flakes, and transformed into new materials ready for manufacturing. This closed-loop system processes up to 100 tonnes of plastic each year, creating a reliable local supply of recycled material while reducing pollution at its source.

Beyond processing waste, Honest Made focuses on building systems that support people. The organisation works closely with local collectors, community leaders, and businesses to gather plastic from beaches, villages, and neighbourhoods, ensuring materials are recovered responsibly while creating stable local jobs and fair income opportunities. By keeping operations transparent and locally rooted, Honest Made demonstrates that circular solutions can be both environmentally effective and socially inclusive.

They are also proud to work alongside the NGO Classroom of Hope, providing earthquake-resistant furniture for classrooms that were destroyed by the last earthquake.

As we look ahead, this year marks a new chapter. Honest Made is shifting towards processing recycled materials into tiles, expanding their ability to support circular building solutions and scale impact across Indonesia.

Alongside this, they are launching the Honest Impact Program, their not-for-profit initiative designed to expand their environmental and community work beyond recycling operations. Through this program, they invite businesses to contribute through monthly subscriptions, directly supporting efforts to keep Kuta and eventually Lombok and other islands clean and resilient.

The Honest Impact Program includes several key initiatives: building river barriers to prevent plastic from entering waterways, introducing a street sweeper to improve public cleanliness, establishing additional recycling hubs to increase collection capacity, and delivering education programs in schools to build long-term environmental awareness.

A key part of this approach is the plastic bin and collection service available to households and businesses across Lombok. Through this program, participants can request dedicated recycling bins and regular collection, making it easier to separate and recover plastic waste before it enters the environment. The organisation also offers opportunities to sponsor bins placed in schools, villages, and coastal areas, extending access to recycling in communities where services are limited. Supporters can also contribute by donating through the Honest Made website, helping fund collection services, infrastructure, and the continued expansion of recycling access across the island.

At its core, Honest Made is not just about managing plastic,  it is about changing systems. By combining local knowledge, appropriate technology, and community collaboration, the organisation builds a model that can be replicated across other regions facing similar challenges. The goal is to show that with the right infrastructure and partnerships, waste can transform from a problem into a resource that supports livelihoods, protects ecosystems, and strengthens communities.

Honest Made continues to grow as a working example of what is possible when communities are empowered with the tools, knowledge, and infrastructure needed to shape a more resilient and circular future.