Palm Oil Waste Policy Needs Re-evaluation, Risks Triggering Costs and Ecological Issues

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Plans to tighten standards for Liquid Waste from Palm Oil Factories (LCPKS) to a Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) below 100 mg/l are seen as potentially misguided if still directed towards discharge into river bodies. Researcher from Pusaka Kalam, Dr. Gunawan Djajakirana, has called on the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (Kemen LH) to re-examine the draft regulation, deeming it not based on soil ecology approaches or sustainable agronomic practices. According to Gunawan, policies forcing the palm oil industry to process LCPKS to very low standards before river disposal would squander the significant potential of the waste as a source of natural organic fertiliser for plantations. “Focusing the regulation solely on BOD below 100 mg/l is misguided. The environment is not automatically safe just because BOD is low. Re-examine the draft ministerial regulation so it does not ignore the positive potential of LCPKS,” Gunawan stated in his comments on Sunday (26/4/2026). In fact, based on field analyses he has conducted, LCPKS meeting low BOD standards still contains high nutrient levels that can trigger eutrophication if discharged into rivers. This condition can cause algal blooms and excessive growth of aquatic plants, which actually damage water ecosystems. “So, 100 mg/l does not mean it’s safe. If the volume is large, it can still pollute,” said Gunawan, an expert in soil science. He views the waste disposal approach as an outdated paradigm that is no longer relevant. In his opinion, LCPKS should be utilised to improve soil function because Indonesia is facing a crisis of soil organic matter due to long-term use of synthetic fertilisers. “Organic matter for soil is like blood for humans. If it’s lacking, the system doesn’t function optimally,” he explained. Utilising LCPKS on palm oil land is seen as capable of enhancing overall soil fertility (biological, physical, and chemical), improving the soil’s water storage capacity, reducing the need for synthetic fertilisers, improving soil structure, and suppressing carbon emissions from synthetic fertiliser production. The obligation to lower BOD to 100 mg/l is also seen as significantly burdening the palm oil industry. To achieve that standard, factories must build extensive series of LCPKS processing ponds (cooling ponds, sedimentation ponds, anaerobic ponds, aerobic ponds, and others) that are large, require significant electrical energy, pumps, and unproductive land up to tens of hectares. “Production costs rise, productive land for palm oil is lost, but environmental benefits are not guaranteed; instead, it produces methane gas,” he emphasised. Gunawan considers the fundamental mistake in the draft regulation to be the focus on concentration figures rather than the total amount of waste applied to the environment. According to him, the correct agronomic principle is dose regulation. LCPKS with high concentrations remains safe if the application volume is small and directly applied to the soil as nourishment for microorganisms. For context, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry is currently developing a draft ministerial regulation on Wastewater Quality Standards and Wastewater Management for Crude Palm Oil Business and/or Activities. One of the drafts under scrutiny is the justification for setting wastewater quality standards for irrigation with BOD below 100 mg/l and the use of synthetic (artificial) fertilisers. This draft tends to overlook the significant potential of LCPKS as an excellent organic fertiliser for sustainable palm tree productivity.