Soeharto opens world-class lube oil recycling plant
Soeharto opens world-class lube oil recycling plant
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto inaugurated yesterday what is
billed as the world's most modern and efficient lubricating oil
recycling plant in Bekasi, West Java, which uses the Pennzoil
technology process from the United States.
The US$84-million plant, which is owned by PT Wiraswasta
Gemilang Indonesia (WGI), a private company, consists of a
rerefining unit with an annual capacity of 40,000 tons of base
oil and a blending unit with a 60,000-ton capacity.
"This plant will not only reduce environmental damage caused
by careless disposal of used engine oil but will also greatly
benefit consumers by denting the sales of fraudulent engine oil
made from used lube oil," the President pointed out at the
inauguration ceremony.
State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja noted at
the same ceremony that if the WGI plant could operate at full
capacity it could process a quarter of the 360,000 kiloliters of
used engine oil accumulated annually by users.
"Before this plant came on stream, used lube oil was either
disposed of directly into nature or recycled with obsolete
technology which does not fulfill the requirements for
environmental preservation and for technical standards," Sarwono
said.
He added that the recycling plant would be able to save $100
million worth of crude oil which is imported from the Middle East
to produce base oil -- the feedstock for the blending of engine
oil.
"We still have to import crude oil from the Middle East
because our own crude is not suitable for making lubricating
oil," Sarwono added.
WGI's president Ibrahim Risyad said the plant used high vacuum
and hydro-finishing technology which does not affect the
environment.
WGI bought the Mohawk-CEP hydrotreating technology from
Chemical Engineering Partner of the U.S.
"We produce 72 kinds of lube oil which meet the quality
standards of the American Petroleum Institute," Ibrahim pointed
out.
He also claimed that the WGI recycling plant is much more
modern and efficient than its counterparts in the U.S. and Canada
due to the high technology it applies to its rerefining and
blending operations.
He said the factory requires 66,000 tons of used lube oil a
year which will be bought from 4,000 individual and company
collectors in Java, Sumatra, Bali and Kalimantan.
The plant, Ibrahim added, could increase its production to
more than 100,000 tons a year under three working shifts.
The new facility was partly funded with loans from the Asian
Development Bank, Commonwealth Development Corp., Asian Finance
and Investment Corp., Banque Nationale de Paris and Lippo Bank.
(vin)
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