Kick-Off of Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production (RECP) Assessment Phase II in the Iron and Steel Industry Sector

UNPAGE Indonesia - The Kick Off of the Resource Efficiency Cleaner Production (RECP) study phase II in the iron and steel industry sector was held on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 at the Royal Kuningan Hotel.

The RECP Phase II in the iron & steel sector is part of the United Nations Partnership for Action on Green Economy (UN-PAGE) Indonesia portfolio in supporting Low Carbon Development (LCD) & Circular Economy implementation as backbone for green economy transition, in close collaboration with the Ministry of National Development Planning/BAPPENAS, Ministry of Industry, and key stakeholders from the iron and steel industry. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is facilitating the process. 

Various studies show that in the last 50 years, the use of materials globally has increased almost 4 times more than population growth, said Asri from the Directorate of Environmental Affairs, BAPPENAS. If the global economy can be transformed into an economy that minimizes the amount of pollution and waste, 28% of the materials used and 38% of GHG emissions can be reduced, she continued. 

“The iron and steel industry also faces challenges in balancing production and consumption capacity. [We] need to improve resource efficiency in its production to be more sustainable, also how this industry can compete with imports. For this reason, Business as Usual (BaU) efforts need to be improved,” said Asri  

The RECP phase II study in the iron and steel sector, according to Diah Ratna Pratiwi, National Project Coordinator of UNPAGE Indonesia, is a follow-up to the process that has been carried out previously. Namely, the Green Industry and Trade Assessment (GITA) study which was conducted in 2019 followed by the RECP assessment in the fertilizer sector in 2021-2022.

“We hope that the results and process of this activity can be useful, not only in supporting the green economy transformation agenda but also for supporting the implementation of green industry standards, especially in the iron and steel sector in Indonesia,” said Diah.

The objective of this study is to help industries in improving their savings and also improving the competitiveness of their products. The output of this study is also aimed at supporting the Ministry of Industry in developing and implementing the green industry standard for this particular sector, iron and steel. 

“So in this care we do not only help companies, but at the same time actions can be taken at the policy level. So the recommended actions can sustain in the future,” said M. Abu Saieed, Green Industry Expert from UNIDO HQ in Vienna who joined virtually. 

Jessica Hanafi, RECP Expert from the National Clean Production Center (PPBN) explained that RECP aims to improve the efficient use of natural resources and reduce GHG emissions produced by companies.

“In RECP iron and steel, we will see companies that have best practice, in progress, and in development. So that we can use it as knowledge sharing,” said Jessica.

The RECP in the iron and steel sector is to identify efficient use of resources, opportunities for cleaner production, economic competitiveness, innovation needs, etc. in the context of supporting LCD, circular economy, as well as green industry implementation. It will also include a benchmarking study to identify best practices. In detail, PPBN Indonesia as the project implementer will map the data that will be included in the RECP including the use of sources of energy resources (electricity, fuel, and water), the amount of emissions released, the amount of liquid waste released, the amount of B3 and non-B3 waste, the technology used for resource efficiency, etc. 

For the timeline, RECP in Iron & Steel will be conducted from October 2022 and expected to be completed in April 2023.

The hybrid kick-off event was also attended by the Centre of Green Industry of the Ministry of Industry (MoI), the Directorate of Metal, Machinery, Equipment, Transportation & Electronics Industry of the MoI, the Directorate of Cement, Ceramics, and Non-Metal Minerals Industry of the MoI, and private companies and associations in the iron and steel industry sector.