Finnish Embassy Shares Circular Economy Practices
Jakarta. Finland's embassy in Indonesia held the first seminar on the circular economy to promote environmentally friendly business practices aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Finnish innovation fund Sitra delivered Finland's roadmap for the implementation of a circular economy during the event, attended by representatives of Indonesian government ministries, nongovernmental organizations and experts.
Ernesto Hartikainen, senior lead of carbon-neutral circular economy at Sitra, said a linear economy would see annual greenhouse gas emissions increase to 75 gigatons by 2060 from 40 gigatons currently, while a more circular economy would result in a 56 percent reduction in emissions from heavy industry alone by 2050.
M. Bijaksana Junerosano, managing director of Waste4Change, a social company that provides environmentally friendly waste management services, said Indonesia must implement a circular economy, as the country's waste output continues to increase. He said the country produced 65.8 million metric tons of waste in 2017, which increased to 66.5 million tons by 2018. Jakarta alone produces about 175,000 tons of waste per day.
Of the 175,000 tons, only about 7.5 percent can be composted and recycled, while about 69 percent goes to landfill sites, which produces methane gas.
"This is very bad management of waste. If these 175,000 tons of waste are managed along a circular economy model, the economic value would be Rp 101 trillion [$7.2 billion]," Bijaksana said.
Finnish Ambassador Jari Sinkari said the seminar aimed to help local stakeholders come up with new ideas on how to implement a circular economy in the country.
"Indonesia needs new ideas and more cooperation; I believe politics is a marketplace of ideas," Sinkari said, adding that the Finnish Embassy was advocating greener policies to the Indonesian government, including creating green energy from waste.
"Indonesia is rich in geothermal and solar energy. Local companies are also cooperating with Finnish companies to provide clean energy. For example, Fortum and Jakarta Propertindo are engaged in a joint venture that will build energy plants to transform waste into electricity in Jakarta," the ambassador said.
The Finnish Embassy also cooperated with three students of Multimedia Nusantara University in Tangerang, Banten, to create a video campaign to educate the youth on a circular economy.
The students, Josh Rafael Gultom, Calita Hin and Kevin Junaldy, produced five videos during a two-month internship at the embassy.
"The concept is still very alien to most young people. These videos will familiarize the youth, especially millennials and younger, with the concept of a circular economy to create awareness of waste management," Josh said.
Waste4Change is partnering with the Finnish Embassy to present the third Indonesia Circular Economy Forum in Jakarta on Nov. 11-12.
"We want Indonesian stakeholders to sharpen their strategies and collaboration to make the circular economy a reality in Indonesia," Bijaksana said.
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