Toba Pulp receives ISO 14001 award

Toba Pulp receives ISO 14001 award

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Pulp and paper company PT Toba Pulp Lestari, which has long been
accused by local people of polluting the area, was awarded the
ISO 14001 certificate on Tuesday for environmental management in
its factories.

The certificate was awarded by UK-based PT Societe de
Surveillance (SGS) Indonesia, which is one of the world's top
institutions in inspection, assessment, verification and
certification of companies.

Toba's general manager Owen R. Downie said that the company
was pleased to receive the acknowledgement despite the fact that
its operation in the Porsea area of Toba Samosir regency, North
Sumatra, was still hotly debated among the local people.

"We've taken several measures, such as by complying with
regulations, minimizing pollution and continual improvement.
Besides that, we've done other important things, such as system
development, internal audit training, management review and
certification audit," Owen said.

He added that the company would also seek to improve
cooperation with the local community.

Owen also said that the company's exports were improving, with
most of the exports going to China, Japan, Thailand, India and
Australia.

"China is our biggest market, accounting for about 60 percent
of our total exports, while Surabaya is currently the main focus
for the domestic market. Our annual production is around 240,000
tons," said Owen.

SGS Indonesia president Erik Roger said that SGS had
thoroughly assessed the environmental impact of the company's
operations and had involved both environmental experts and
legislators.

"However, ISO 14001 is not a permanent certificate. It can be
revoked should the company cause environmental problems in the
future. We'll conduct reviews every three year," said Erik.