PTFI strengthens coastal waste management based on circular economy

PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) is strengthening community-based coastal waste management through the Waste for Waste programme, a circular economy system that encourages the reuse of waste to give it economic value. Senior Vice President Geoengineering and Environmental PT Freeport Indonesia Ardhin Yuniar said the programme is designed to build a sustainable waste management system through collaboration with local governments and communities, so that environmental clean-up actions do not stop as ceremonial activities. “Through Waste for Waste, we want to build a waste management system from upstream to downstream so that waste is no longer seen as rubbish, but becomes a resource that benefits the community and the environment,” he said during the commemoration of World Environment Day 2026 at Kemukem Beach, Kramat Village, Bungah District, Gresik, East Java, on Monday. Gresik Regent Fandi Akhmad Yani appreciated the series of World Environment Day events held by PTFI, which combined beach clean-up actions, mangrove planting, and environmental education as efforts to address the impacts of climate change. “Climate change must be balanced with real actions such as planting mangroves to protect the northern coastal areas. Synergy like this needs to be continuously strengthened,” he said. Yani also encouraged the construction of an Integrated Waste Treatment Facility (TPST) in the area that applies the principles of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3R) so that waste can be managed from its source. The World Environment Day 2026 series of events held by PTFI involved around 2,000 participants through various activities, including mangrove planting, an Environmental Awareness Workshop, a Student Exhibition, and a beach clean-up at Kemukem Beach. The beach clean-up action involved around 350 participants and successfully collected 1,626.2 kilogrammes of waste. All the waste was sorted for recycling, processed into compost, or taken to a final processing site in accordance with regulations. To strengthen the programme, PTFI also handed over assistance for a central waste bank to the beneficiary village to support the sustainability of the Waste for Waste programme.