Paper industry can cause contamination
Paper industry can cause contamination
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia should be prepared for the
environmental consequences of its fast growing pulp and paper
industry, environmental activists warned.
Lisa Finali, a chlorine campaign coordinator from Greenpeace,
said in a seminar on Wednesday that Indonesia should make sure
that its pulp and paper industry is environmentally friendly.
"Isn't it better to take a precautionary road rather than
having to pay the price of choosing the wrong road?" Finali said.
The push for change, according to Finali, needs to come from
industry, the government and consumers alike.
Indonesia's pulp and paper industry is expected to grow
tremendously in the next 10 years.
Currently, the Indonesian Pulp and Paper Association has 15
pulp and 50 paper companies as members. By 1999, the industry
association predicts that there will be 40 pulp factories and 75
paper factories.
But Finali says that such bright prospects for Indonesia's
pulp and paper industry could pose a threat to the environment
because organochlorine, the chemical used to bleach the paper
pulp, is highly toxic for nearby water sources.
"The use of chlorine for pulp bleaching has led to widespread
environmental contamination including dioxin," said David
Santillo, a research scientist from the Greenpeace Research
Laboratories at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom.
Dioxin, largely a byproduct of modern industry, is believed to
damage to reproductive systems, suppress of immune systems and
cause cancer.
Thomas Weber, from the Department of Environmental Health at
Boston University School of Public Health, said that dioxin is a
very toxic material formed when the bleaching agent chlorine is
burned.
However, there are ways for the pulp and paper industry to
become more environmentally sound. The industry can eliminate
organochlorine discharges by using TCF (Totally Chlorine Free)
bleaching when hydrogen peroxide and ozone are used.
Santillo said that substituting elemental chlorine with
chlorine dioxide (ECF) can greatly reduce the generation and
release of organochlorine during the bleaching process.
"A step further would be to make a total shift to alternative
bleaching agents such as peroxide (TCF), which will prevent
organochlorine synthesis, the only long-term sustainable option,"
he added.
Liana Bratasida, Director of Technical Development at the
Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal), shared Finali's
opinion, saying that the government now favors the voluntary
compliance approach.
"If we raise consumers' awareness to understand which are
environmentally 'good' and 'bad' products, market demand would be
a very effective tool to boost voluntary compliance," Liana said.
Liana was referring to what she considers "ineffective
approaches" such as the "command and control" or "end-of-the-
pipe" methods which do not solve the problem of environmental
contamination.
The one-day seminar, entitled Towards An Eco-Pulp and Paper
Industry in Indonesia was held by Greenpeace and the Indonesian
Center for Environmental Law (ICEL).
Mas Achmad Santosa, ICEL's Executive Director, lamented the
lack of laws and regulations to support voluntary compliance
practices.
Because of this, he suggested that stringent industrial
liability rules be placed on producers of high level pollution in
order to boost voluntary compliance. (06)