A little over a year ago, PT Freeport Indonesia and community partners created a recycling center near its Manyar smelter project to repurpose construction waste into something useful.
The payoff so far has been nearly 500 scholarships for local orphans and disadvantaged children, 40 jobs for local residents and a carpentry training program that uses donated wood waste to produce furniture for schools, health centers and other community organizations. The center also recently reached the milestone of generating $1 million in sales from the project waste.
Along the way, the Joint Transformation Center has processed more than 7,000 tons of waste that otherwise would have wound up in an area landfill already operating beyond its designed capacity.
“The path has not been easy, but everyone’s efforts have made this business model and partnership with our important community stakeholders successfully sustainable,” said H-D Garz, Executive Vice President-Corporate Planning and Business Strategy at PTFI. “This is a leading model to recycle and reuse waste generated from all the construction activities, minimizing landfill and providing benefit to the communities we operate in.”
The Joint Transformation Center, known as the PTB Center, from an acronym based on Bahasa Indonesian, was built near the $3.2 billion Manyar smelter complex under construction in Gresik, East Java, Indonesia. The center facilitates recycling and reuse of much of the construction waste generated by the smelter construction. The recycled and repurposed material then is used to generate revenue for community organizations while minimizing waste going to the local landfill.
Construction biproducts put to use
Construction waste – everything from steel rebar to wooden pallets – is sorted, cleaned and packaged for sale to local buyers. Some materials are used as a part of the carpentry and welding training program for community fishermen who must be reskilled due to the industrialization of Manyar. Money raised through the sales is directed toward community improvement projects.
In addition to the scholarships, jobs and carpentry training program, the PTB promotes sustainability principles in the region, as waste management is a critical issue. During recent stakeholder engagement sessions, waste management ranked as one of the most critical priorities. The local Gresik landfill is at capacity, and many villages lack the resources to implement waste management programs.
The PTB Center and PTFI recently agreed to earmark a significant portion of funds for the development of the “Waste for Waste” program. The Waste for Waste funds will be used to improve the waste management capacity of the local villages – including the installation of new village waste banks and improvements to existing facilities.
As the Smelter project nears completion, the amount of waste flowing from the smelter site is expected to decrease dramatically. Work is being done to identify a sustainable alternative, which may include approaching other companies for waste donations or adjusting the operation of the PTB Center.
The center was built by PTFI in collaboration with contractor PT Raya Manyar Persaya and the Yatamam Foundation, a longstanding community organization. Wehasta, an internationally recognized nongovernmental organization specializing in community waste management, works to increase the capacity of the PTB and verifies alignment to environmental best practices.