Environmentally friendly technology graining ground
By Harlow G. Russell
JAKARTA (JP): When most people think or read about environmentally friendly technology, they usually have a "picture" in their head of large, expensive, "high tech" waste water treatment plants. Sometimes costing billions of rupiah, the kind of technology is used to fix the problem once it has been created, treating water after it has been polluted.
This "picture" creates the common misperception that only big conglomerates or factories can really do something about pollution, and that "high tech" solutions are not something the ordinary consumer can afford or use in a practical way.
Another misconception about environmentally friendly technology is that any product which is better for the environment and safer for people will be more expensive to buy or use than the dangerous product it replaces. Not true. For example, many new "green" cleaners cost the same as ordinary cleaners and in many cases are more economical to use.
This misperception is slowly changing. There are now applications of environmentally friendly technology in Indonesia which prevent pollution at the source and which are affordable to use by every Indonesian every day.
Recycled paper and plastic bottles are beginning to appear for the Indonesian consumer market. Indonesians can now find environmentally friendly alternatives to environmentally hazardous products used for the home or office. Low mercury batteries for cameras and cloth bags instead of plastic are among the examples.
Cleaning products
Consider cleaning products. Every day every house, every business, and every factory in Indonesia use chemical liquid or powder products to clean dirt and grease. Cleaning is a universal daily event! That bottle of cleaner, though, under the kitchen sink at home or used in the office, can contain toxic elements which are dangerous to people and pollute the environment as well.
Information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicates that most cleaning agents today are toxic, flammable, and non-biodegradable. Due to extensive environmental awareness and regulation, an estimated 80 percent of these chemicals will be severely restricted or banned in the U.S. and Europe during the next two to five years.
This problem is magnified when you consider the fact that almost all factories in Indonesia use oil products (kerosene, diesel fuel, and gasoline) for everyday "routine" cleaning and degreasing. Why? Because for many years, common knowledge has dictated that oil products are the cheapest and simplest products to clean with. Common habit ignores the occupational health hazards and environmental damage of using oil products. It's easy to see this "bad old habit" right near your home!
Visit any bengkel (vehicle repair shop) and you'll see the use of kerosene and diesel fuel like it was "water" to clean parts and degrease engines. Not only is this a health hazard to the worker from noxious, poisonous fumes, flammability, and skin/lung problems but also directly increases the pollution of Indonesia's rivers. This liquid goes into the drains and, unfortunately, directly into the rivers in most cases.
How many bengkels are there in Jakarta?
Considering a bengkel is one of the easiest businesses to open in Indonesia, there must be between 10,000 and 20,000 in the capital. How many bengkels are there in Indonesia? 500,000? One million? Each using a liter or two or three of diesel fuel a day. Just try to calculate how many millions of liters of fuel products that are used every day in Indonesia to "clean." Millions of liters, maybe more. All goes down the drain and into the rivers.
The flow of millions of liters of diesel fuel, kerosene, and gasoline amounts to literally a domestic oil spill happening every day in Indonesia, yet up to this time, the widespread use of oil products as cleaners has not been publicized. This is a tragic waste of Indonesia's precious fuel resources at a time when there is a growing concern Indonesia will soon become an oil importer. It is also an unnecessary source of skin, respiratory, and pollution problems.
Surfactants
Environmentally friendly technology has been developed however to replace these pollutants. What's more, the application of this technology has resulted in cheap, effective products that are safer and healthier for everyone.
Clean technology for this example is based on surfactants. A surfactant is a family of chemicals that reduce the tension or "holding power" between molecules. In terms of cleaners, surfactants are very effective at loosening and dissolving the bonds between dirt, grease and oil from the surface that it's attached to. Surfactants can be made from natural vegetable oil fatty acids like those found in palm oil. They do not contain any known toxic materials and biodegrade very quickly (in a matter of days).
"Biodegradable" means something can be broken down into natural, harmless elements. Actually, everything on the Earth is biodegradable. Even plastic bags or plutonium will biodegrade given enough time (in the case of plutonium, with a half life of 24,000 years, you have to wait a very long time until it biodegrades!).
There are many ways to measure biodegradability including chemical breakdown and effects on fish and marine life. The key factor in comparing biodegradable products is to know which one biodegrades in a very quick amount of time. "Quick" is relative, but generally speaking, products which biodegrade in a matter of days are considered to be the best products.
Surfactant technologies, in general, have been available for several years. But not until the recent consumer concern over the environment and government mandates in the last five years have new applications for surfactants, such as industrial and household cleaning, been made.
In the U.S. and Europe, the production of natural, water-based surfactants has exploded due to industry being forced to find non-toxic alternatives for general purpose cleaning. Rapid growth in demand by consumers for environmentally friendly "green" cleaners for the house has also changed the supermarket shelves in the U.S. and Europe. Many supermarkets now display a large variety of green cleaners. In some countries, such as Germany, there are now more "green" cleaners sold than "standard" toxic ones. This trend is also spreading to Asia.
Alternative
In Indonesia, there are already companies pioneering the manufacture of non-toxic surfactant based cleaners for industry, business, and consumers. These products can replace many cancer- causing, poisonous, flammable, and hazardous products commonly used here. Surfactants technology contains no chemicals listed on the EPA Sara 313 list. this means the products contain no phosphates, ketones, chlorinated solvents, or other poisonous elements.
Biodegradable surfactant technology can be used in almost every industry: oil, mining, food processing, automotive, manufacturing, hotel and restaurant. Many companies in Indonesia have begun using these surfactants as an alternative to oil products in response to enforcement of pollution law by Bapedal, the enforcement arm of the Ministry of the Environment.
Use of environmentally friendly cleaning products is one step towards clean production and waste minimization, the two key points of Minister of the Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja's directive to industry.
More importantly, Indonesia consumers will soon have a choice when they go shopping for products in the supermarket. "Green" products, particularly in the cleaning section, will begin appearing here soon for home use.
Considering the increased awareness by the Indonesian public about the environment, the time is right for the introduction of environmentally friendly products to Indonesia. People must come to understand the issue is not just for big companies, but for each of us, each of our families, each one of our homes. All of us can help make a difference in Indonesia's future by choosing products today that reduce pollution.
Harlow G. Russell is the technical consultant of PT Adiprotek Envirodunia