Leather-tanning industry poorly managed
Leather-tanning industry poorly managed
Bambang M, Contributor, Yogyakarta
Despite its significant contribution to the country's export- based revenue, Indonesia's leather-tanning industry has caused serious environmental problems, particularly due to the way its waste is disposed of.
A leather-tanning company in Yogyakarta, PT Budi Makmur Jaya Murni (PT BMJM), for example, was recently caught red-handed by the local police as it disposed of its waste -- sludge mixed with other solid refuse, including small pieces of unused leather, allegedly contained poisonous agents -- in Sambirejo village, Prambanan subdistrict, Sleman regency.
It was not the first time that the company had been caught illegally dumping its waste; however, it was not the only company guilty of such an offense, either.
"Most of the country's tanneries dispose of their waste in the same way as PT BMJM," Association of Indonesian Leather Tanners (APKI) chairman Diyono Hening Sasmito said.
Government Regulation No. 85/1999, which modified Regulation No. 18/1999 on the management of poisonous or dangerous waste, categorizes tannery waste as containing chromium, an element considered to be both poisonous and dangerous.
Therefore, according to Law No 23/1997 on the management of the environment, the dumping of such waste into a pit in the ground is strictly prohibited.
Besides causing a bad smell, chromium, according to Widjajanti of the Yogyakarta Environmental Sanitation Office, can be absorbed into the soil, following the flow of groundwater, and can be absorbed into plants.
When humans are exposed to it, certain types of chromium (valence 3) can cause itching, while others (valence 6) can cause cancer.
According to Eddi Purnomo of Yogyakarta Leather Engineering College (ATK), chromium used in tanneries is of the first type rather than the second.
Harry Supriono of Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University's Center for Environmental Studies, however, says that no one can guarantee that solid waste containing such chromium, which is disposed of into the ground, will not mutate into the valence-6 type.
Under certain circumstances, for example, in a highly alkaline environment, valence-3 chromium can turn into the type that can cause cancer in human beings.
Why, then, are tannery companies putting people at risk by dumping their waste containing chromium into the ground?
Sutanto Haryono of PT BMJM once said that his company, which contributed some 7.23 percent (US$ 8.33 million) to Yogyakarta's export-based revenue in 2003, did so because there was no waste-treatment facility in the province.
According to Diyono of the APKI, at present Yogyakarta has only one sewage-treatment facility in Sitimulyo, Piyungan subdistrict, Bantul.
The only waste-treatment facility in the country for dangerous or poisonous materials was established in 1994 in Cileungsi, West Java. Yet, it is not big enough to accommodate the country's tannery waste.
"Besides, the cost is also too high for us," said Diyono, who is also vice director of a tannery in Yogyakarta, PT Adi Satria Abadi.
The government is yet to provide the proper infrastructure for the industry, despite its significant contribution to the country's export-based revenue. It has also played a strategic, important role in providing a bridge between leather producers in the upstream and downstream sectors.
During the period of 1996 to 1997, for example, the industry contributed US$2.4 billion to the country's export-based revenue, making it the third-largest moneymaker in the sector.
In 2003, it contributed US$1.6 billion; in Yogyakarta alone, US$ 8.7 million.
"The leather sector contributes the largest export-based revenue in Yogyakarta," Yogyakarta provincial Industrial, Trade and Cooperatives Office head Syahbenol Hasibuan said, adding that the industry had absorbed over 25,000 laborers in the region, not to mention those working for small-scale, leather-using businesses in the province.
It is, therefore, time for the government to deal seriously with this matter, as the industry continues to cause environmental problems.
In Yogyakarta, for example, of the 12 tanneries registered with the APKI, most are located downtown.
People living in the vicinity of the factories are subjected to a constant stench.
Also, the quality of the tanneries liquid waste, according to the regional environmental impact management agency, fails to meet the required standards.
Endro Waluyo of the agency's pollution control department says that three-quarters of the tanneries produce waste of a quality that falls below acceptable standards.
"Dealing with tannery waste is not easy and should be carried out carefully, as it involves biological and chemical elements. A waste-treatment facility that does not have the capacity to properly treat waste, poorly maintained production equipment or insufficient management of the process can result in unsatisfactory waste treatment," Endro said.
Due to such considerations, the Yogyakarta provincial administration has proposed that all the city's tanneries be relocated to Piyungan in Bantul regency. That way, the cost of waste treatment could be kept to a minimum, as well as its impact on the environment.
So far, only two companies, PT Adi Satria Abadi and PT Bintang Alam Semesta, have moved to the authorized location. The others are yet to move, mostly for financial reasons.
Other leather-tanning centers include those in Magetan, Mojosongo, Masin and Manding, East Java, and in Garut, West Java.
To deal with solid waste containing poisonous or dangerous substances that result from the tanning of leather, the Yogyakarta provincial administration is planning to build a waste-treatment plant in 2005.