PPLi seeks to renew Pertamina waste management contract<\/p>\n
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Waste processing firm PT Prasadha Pamunah Limbah Industry
\n(PPLi) has been negotiating with state-owned oil and gas company
\nPT Pertamina for the management of toxic waste at the Balongan
\nrefinery in West Java.<\/p>\n
\"We are holding intensive talks to find a solution to treating
\nindustrial waste -- not only at Balongan, but also at other
\nPertamina units,\" Machmud Badres, PPLi sales and marketing
\nmanager, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Machmud said the two sides had yet to reach an agreement on a
\nnew contract.<\/p>\n
The Balongan refinery's waste, which consist of sludge, or oil
\nresidue, and spent catalysts -- a chemical substance used to
\nprocess crude oil into oil-based products -- has been piling up
\nsince 2000.<\/p>\n
Shrimp farmers and fishermen in Indramayu, West Java -- where
\nthe refinery is located -- have protested the pollution and have
\ndemanded Pertamina to clean up the waste, which they said had
\ndestroyed some 10,000 hectares of shrimp ponds.<\/p>\n
There are two options to treat the sludge, Machmud said, the
\nfirst, to extract remaining crude from the sludge.<\/p>\n
\"The oil can be used to make synthetic fuel, while solid
\nsludge can be dumped in a landfill,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the landfill would be constructed and maintained to
\nprevent any leakage and to hold the waste for up to 30 years.<\/p>\n
The second option is to use a biological decomposition process
\nusing bacteria to turn the sludge into a non-toxic substance.<\/p>\n
As for the spent catalyst, Machmud said, PPLi was studying the
\npossibility of turning the waste into a substitute material to
\nproduce cement.<\/p>\n
\"It is still in a trial stage, to ensure it does not contain
\ntoxic substances when it is used to make cement,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Pertamina began facing problems in managing its waste at
\nBalongan after it terminated a contract with PPLi in the late
\n1990s amid a probe into alleged collusion.<\/p>\n
At that time, PPLi was partly owned by Bimantara Citra, a
\nconglomerate controlled by Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo.<\/p>\n
Bimantara, through Aqualindo Mitra Industry, owned a 25
\npercent stake in PPLi, while U.S.-based Waste Management
\nInternational (WMI) owned 70 percent and the government 5
\npercent.<\/p>\n
In 2001, Modern Asian Environmental Holdings (MAEH), a waste
\nservice company, bought 95 percent of PPLi shares; the remaining
\n5 percent is held by the government.<\/p>\n
Pertamina claims that no other local waste management company,
\naside from PPLi, has the sufficient capacity to manage a large
\nquantity of industrial waste.<\/p>\n
Balongan, which processes about 125,000 barrels of crude oil a
\nday, produces some 4,000 tons of toxic waste a year.<\/p>\n
Machmud said PPLi was ready to process Pertamina's toxic
\nwaste.<\/p>\n
The company processes some 35,000 tons of toxic and non-toxic
\nindustrial waste a day from 800 companies.<\/p>\n
Separately, an expert in toxic waste management said most
\nstandard procedures to treat toxic waste produced by oil and gas
\nactivities, such as landfills or incinerating them, were neither
\nefficient nor environmentally friendly.<\/p>\n
\"The processes commonly used are all exceedingly expensive --
\nif applied properly -- and invites abuse. The material is dumped
\nsomewhere and sits there for some untoward event,\" the expert,
\nwho requested anonymity, replied in an email to the Post.<\/p>\n
He proposed an alternative technology that was invented in
\ncooperation with the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), which
\ncould manage waste safely and at a low cost.<\/p>\n
The technology turns hydrocarbon waste into carbon dioxide and
\nwater in a low-temperature oxidation process.<\/p>\n
He said the technology allowed electricity to be generated
\nfrom the oxidation process, which kept operating costs low, while
\nsolid materials produced during the process could be reused, for
\nexample, to patch concrete.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ppli-seeks-to-renew-pertamina-waste-management-contract-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}