SIG and Gresik Regency Government Signing Cooperation on Utilizing Alternative Fuels from Municipal Waste

PT Semen Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (SIG) and the Gresik Regency Government (Pemkab) signing a Joint Agreement on use of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) or alternative fuel from processed municipal waste at Belahanrejo TPST and Ngipik TPST, Gresik Regency, East Java. This collaboration is a strategic step to overcome the waste problem in Gresik Regency while also supporting an increase in the portion of alternative fuel use at the SIG factory.

The signing of the Joint Agreement was carried out by the Regent of Gresik, Fandi Akhmad Yani and the SIG Operations Director, Reni Wulandari during a series event of the Inauguration of the Belahanrejo TPST, Kedamean District, Gresik, East Java, on Thursday (29/2/2024).

Belahanrejo TPST and Ngipik TPST have been equipped with RDF facilities, each of which has a waste management capacity of 200 tonnes/day, with a machine input capacity of 20 tonnes/day that can produce 3.8 tonnes/day of RDF from inorganic waste and 9 tonnes/day of RDF from organic waste. Through this collaboration, RDF from the two facilities will be sent to SIG Tuban Factory to be used as an alternative fuel to substitute coal.

The Regent of Gresik, Fandi Akhmad Yani, is grateful and appreciates SIG's willingness to collaborate with the Gresik Regency Government in waste management. Before the Belahanrejo TPST was established, for years the waste from the southern Gresik area had to be sent to the Ngipik TPST in Gresik City, which is relatively far away. This method was very ineffective and inefficient, especially at that time the Ngipik TPST was not yet equipped with RDF facilities. Then the Gresik Regency Government equipped the Ngipik TPST with RDF facilities which were inaugurated in June 2023. 

“Alhamdulillah, we already have RDF offtakers from several TPSTs that we have, so later we won't need to be confused anymore. Later this RDF will be used as fuel in cement factories," said Fandi Akhmad Yani.

SIG Operations Director, Reni Wulandari said, the enthusiasm to realize sustainable development goals encourages SIG to collaborate with local governments in managing urban waste in a sustainable manner. This collaboration not only helps the Gresik Regency Government create a clean environment, but also helps SIG obtain environmentally friendly alternative fuel as a decarbonization effort. 

"SIG continues to expand collaboration with local governments in waste management as a form of contribution to environmental preservation and global efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. Apart from RDF, SIG also uses biomass from rice husks, corn cobs, palm oil palms, etc. as alternative fuels, to increase thermal energy substitution (TSR) in order to achieve the CO2 emission intensity reduction target set in the SIG Sustainability Road Map 2030 ," said Reni Wulandari.

Not long ago, SIG's subsidiary, PT Solusi Bangun Indonesia Tbk (SBI), also collaborated with the Bantul Regency Government, DI Yogyakarta in the use of RDF. The collaboration was marked by the signing of Memorandum of Understanding in a series activities of commemorating National Waste Awareness Day (HPSN) 2024 and the operational inauguration of the Intermediate Treatment Facility (ITF) Pasar Niten Bantul, Yogyakarta, on Tuesday (27/2/2024).

Bantul Regency, with an area of 506.8 square kilometers and consisting of 17 sub-districts, has the potential to generate up to 440 tons of waste per day. This number will continue to increase as the population in this region increases.

Furthermore, Reni Wulandari said that sustainable waste management using circular economy principles such as RDF, has many advantages. Apart from reducing dependence on fossil fuels and dealing with piles of waste that cause odors and health problems, the use of RDF also supports the acceleration of achieving the carbon emissions reduction target launched by the government by 2060. 

"The ever-increasing volume of waste is still a challenge for local governments amidst limited land for disposal and waste management facilities. As a company that has the capability and experience in waste management, SIG is ready to collaborate with the government in overcoming the waste problem which is still a scourge, especially for local governments," said Reni Wulandari.

Before collaborating with the Gresik and Bantul Regency Governments, SIG through its subsidiary, SBI, had already collaborated with a number of regional governments, such as Aceh, Cilacap, DKI Jakarta, Banyumas, Temanggung, Sleman, Wonosobo, and waste managers in Bali.

In Cilacap Regency, SBI is not only a user of RDF produced by the Jeruklegi RDF Plant owned by the Cilacap Regency Government, but also the initiator and operator of the first RDF facility in Indonesia. Since it was inaugurated by the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan on 21 July 2020, the Cilacap RDF facility now processes 160 tons of waste/day to produce around 70 - 80 tons of RDF/day. This amount has the potential to replace 50 - 60 tons of coal/day.