Industry Minister Sarmuji Ready to Implement Industrial Decarbonisation

Gresik (ANTARA) – Industry Minister Muhammad Sarmuji said he was ready to implement decarbonisation using carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) technology across all industries.

The project to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions has been on trial at PT Petrokimia Gresik for about the past two years, the minister told reporters in Gresik, East Java, on Friday.

During his visit, Sarmuji saw that the green technology trial at PT Petrokimia Gresik had not only reduced emissions but also produced soda ash, or sodium carbonate, with economic value.

He said companies and industries had been reluctant to adopt decarbonisation because they viewed it as an additional operating cost.

“But this project has shown that applying green technology in industrial processes can also bring further benefits,” he said.

Soda ash produced through decarbonisation is an important raw material for a range of industrial goods. It is used in making glass, paper, ceramics, textiles and other products, and is currently imported.

Another company Sarmuji visited in Gresik was PT Xinyi Glass Indonesia, a manufacturer of various types of glass that exports to 45 countries. The Hong Kong-based company said about 20 per cent of its raw materials are imported, including soda ash.

Sarmuji said PT Xinyi Glass Indonesia, located in the Java Integrated Industrial and Port Estate (JIIPE) Special Economic Zone in Gresik, could become an offtaker, or buyer, of the soda ash produced through decarbonisation at PT Petrokimia Gresik.

“We will continue evaluating the project to ensure the decarbonisation trial at PT Petrokimia Gresik can be applied at industrial scale and eventually meet global demand for soda ash,” he said.