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.