The business delegation trip, which was held with support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and econAN International GmbH, aimed to facilitate knowledge transfer between Indonesian and German companies on waste management and recycling, as well as to provide a starting point for future cooperation. Held from September 19-23, 2022, the business delegation trip began with a briefing on Monday evening, followed by a Business Forum that was opened by econAn International GmbH, EKONID, and the Indonesian Consul General to Hamburg Ardian Wicaksono on the following Tuesday. During this Business Forum, a number of speakers presented their possible contributions to the Indonesian waste management industry. Mr. Sebastian Frish from BlackForest Solution GmbH gave a presentation on the German waste management and recycling industry. Mrs. Wendy von Knorre from Euler Hermes AG provided information on the possibility of obtaining financial aid for the imports of capital goods from Germany. Marc Loskarn from EUWELLE Environmental Technology GmbH presented his company’s Mechanical-Biological Treatment solutions and Maximum Yield Technology. It may be noted that EUWELLE, a member of EKONID, is a partner of the Lulut Nambo Waste Management and Final Processing Site in West Java. Following those esteemed speakers was Mr. Jan Gressman from Eggersmann Anlagenbau GmbH, whose company had worked with the Cilacap regional administration in Central Java on the implementation of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). The final speaker, Mr. Widyananda Suwito from Wehrle-Merk AG (also a member of EKONID), gave a presentation on leachate treatment for industrial wastewater – the technology of which was implemented in several Indonesian cities, including Sidoarjo, Jambi, Jombang, and Malang. The Business Forum concluded with a visit to MVB Rugenbarger Damm, a waste incineration plant, during which participants got a chance to network and have discussions. On Wednesday, the delegation was accompanied on a trip to Ludwig Melosch Vertriebs-GmbH & Co. KG, a paper recycling facility located in the city of Pinneberg, 18km northwest of Hamburg. During the visit, the delegation received a personal welcome from the Mayor of Pinneberg Mrs. Urte Steinberg. Ludwig Melosch Group is a family-owned business that has been in operation since 1907. As the second largest importer after India, Indonesia is a major partner of Ludwig Melosch Group with 25 customers in the archipelago. From Pinneberg, the delegation moved on to hanseWasser Bremen GmbH (Kläranlage Seehausen), a wastewater treatment plant owned by the city of Bremen. At least 130,000 cubic liter of wastewater gets treated daily in the plant. Aside from the wastewater from Bremen, Kläranlage Seehausen also treats wastewater from neighboring cities Lilienthal, Ritterhude, Stuhr/Weyhe and parts of Oyten and Achim. On the fourth day of the trip, delegates was brought to FAUN Umwelttechnick GmbH, a producer of waste collector and street sweeper vehicles – including the world’s first hydro-powered waste collector. The delegates then continued onwards with a visit to Bremen’s Waste-to-Energy plant (swb Entsorgung GmbH & Co. KG) that, aside from household wastes, also recycles commercial waste and sludge to generate energy. The Bremen waste-to-energy plant incinerates up to 550,000 tons of waste to produce about 200,000 MWh for district heating, as well as 270,000 MWh in electricity annually. The fifth and final day of the trip saw delegates visiting the Energiepark Heinfelde Biogas plant, which specializes in the recycling of animal and organic waste. The company also provides further waste management services through its subsidiary BSN BioService Nord, which specializes in the processing of retail food, canteen kitchen, and food trade wastes. In its operations, the company utilizes technology from Tietjen Verfahrenstechnik GmbH, which separates organic materials from other recyclable materials such as food packaging, allowing the company to optimize its output, which includes biogas or compost. The separated materials would then be thermally recycled. Overall, the event was a success and the participating companies shared that they would be scheduling follow-up meetings with their German counterparts for potential future collaborations. In this regard, EKONID would like to thank all the participants and stakeholders who made the event possible.
This online event entails a series of Renewable Energy Business Forum and individual B2B meetings. Around 70 representatives from the solar PV, wind turbine, storage system, biomass, and hydrogen industries participated in the business forum. In addition, there were also representatives from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) of the Republic of Indonesia, the State Electricity Company (PT PLN Persero), and the State Oil and Natural Gas Mining Company (PT Pertamina Persero). EKONID Managing Director, Mr. Jan Rönnfeld, opened the online seminar and emphasized the importance of hybrid systems to overcome the issue of decentralized energy in Indonesia. He invited the participants to discuss the solutions together and hoped that this event would contribute to the development of green energy in the archipelago. His remarks were followed by Ms. Andriah Feby Misna, the Director of Various New and Renewable Energy at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia, who said that a collaboration of public and private institutions in Germany and Indonesia is needed to support wider accessibility of clean energy. Finally, Mr. Caspar Schulze, Project Manager at eclareon GmbH, welcomed the participants to exchange information and conduct business partnerships to achieve the international climate protection agenda. After the opening remarks, as many as eight German companies delivered presentations regarding technologies and solutions for providing cleaner electricity to areas that are not connected to national power grids. Also present at the event was a lecturer from the Reutlingen University Prof. Dr. José Antonio Notholt Vergara who gave a brief analysis on “Adaptive Control Systems in Hybrid Solutions”. This was an opportunity for the Indonesian companies to have a better overview of products and services from their German counterparts before having the individual B2B meetings in the following days. In total, there were 67 one-on-one meetings that took place from September 14 to 16, 2022. The event went successful as a platform to facilitate business matchmaking between the participating German and Indonesian companies, as well as other actors from the academic and governmental institutions of both countries. The fruitful discussion during this 4-day event and the cooperation made through it are expected to bring solutions to the renewable energy sector.
On August 13, 2022, the EU parliament agreed to the proposal for a regulation on deforestation-free products. Passed with 453 votes against 57 (123 abstentions), the proposal would pave the way for EU lawmakers to negotiate with member states as to the form of the final legislation. “We are serious about fighting climate change and biodiversity loss. Acknowledging that the EU is responsible for around 10% of global deforestation, we have no choice but to ramp up our efforts to halt global deforestation. If we get the balance right between ambition, applicability and WTO compatibility, this new tool has the potential to pave the way to deforestation-free supply chains,” said rapporteur Christophe Hansen of Luxemburg from EPP, a center-right group in the EU Parliament, as quoted from European Parliament official website. Initially drafted as part of the European Green Deal in 2021, the proposal aims to make it mandatory for companies to exercise due diligence by verifying that their products are not sourced from deforested or degraded land. The proposal covers cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil and soybean, and includes any goods that contain or have been fed with or made using these products, such as chocolate or soap. Wood, leather, furniture items, as well as charcoal and printed paper products could also be affected in the final legislation. The proposal sets December 31, 2019, as the cut-off date for affected products. No country or commodity will be banned from selling products made after the aforementioned date. However, companies will have to conduct due diligence to manage risks in the supply chain. The commission will then be able to use the information to classify countries into low, standard or high-risk categories. How the proposal affects Indonesia-German trade The proposal could potentially add to the requirements already posed by the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act. Slated to come into force in 2023, the German Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) recently issued its first guidelines for in-scope companies that have been eagerly awaiting guidance from the relevant authority (available in German here). In Indonesia, the pulp and paper industry, furniture manufacturers, and the palm oil industry, are the sectors most likely to be affected by the proposal, though the country seems to have improved significantly in its enforcement of Law No. 32/2009 on Protection and Management of the Environment, as amended by Law No. 11/2020, as well as Law No. 41/1999 on Forestry, as amended by Law No. 2004 and Law No. 11/2020. The proposal must still go through an approval process from the Council of the European Union as well as the national parliaments of the 27 countries in the bloc. Member states must then transpose the agreed terms into national law by 2026. What form the final legislation will take remains to be seen. In this regard, European and Indonesian companies may look forward to the upcoming EU-ASEAN summit planned to be held this December in Brussels, where both blocs will discuss potential expansions in trade and infrastructure assistance and where supply chain management will be one of the key topics.