Therefore, the International Seminar on Chemical Engineering Soehadi Reksowardojo in cooperation with ITB Chemical Engineering Alumni Association, ITB Chemical Engineering Student Association, and Indonesian Engineers Association Vocational Board held an annual webinar focused on “Circular Economy for A Better World”.

This annual event has several series of sub-events, in which one of them was the webinar held on Tuesday (July 28th, 2020) with the topic “Application of Circular Economy Concept for Sustainable Consumption and Production of Industries in Indonesia.

The event was opened by Prof. Brian Yuliarto, the Dean of the Faculty of Industrial Technology. “We are still able to hold this annual event despite the current pandemic situation. Because of the pandemic situation, industry players are forced to develop a new strategy. Despite this situation, ideas from academics and industry players are still beneficial for students and ITB campus,” Yuliarto said during the opening of the webinar session.

The webinar was divided into 3 parts and began with the explanation regarding the relationship between SDG No. 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and Circular Economy. This first part of the webinar was delivered by Ir. Noer Adi Wardojo, M.Sc. According to him, Circular Economy is one of the approaches that can be utilized to implement SDG No. 12.

However, this concept bears only few resemblances when compared with the purpose of SDG No. 12. Therefore, identification of other approaches is still needed. Despite this, SDG No. 12 would be achieved more easily if the implementation of Circular Economy is successful.

The second part of the webinar was delivered by Ir. Achmad Gunawan, M.A.S and was focused on regulations and policies regarding the implementation of Circular Economy. According to him, the implementation of Circular Economy must be initiated by grouping and processing industrial wastes, ranging from harmless wastes to toxic and dangerous wastes. By grouping these wastes, waste processing activities would be much easier.

The last part of the webinar was focused on the application and implementation of Circular Economy and was delivered by Dra. Liana Bratasida, M.Si. According to her, the Circular Economy concept can be used as a solution for initial stages faced when implementing SDG by solving the root cause of the problem. This would eventually help the transition of a particular system from linear economy to circular economy that is focused on the recycling process. “As an example, the paper industry will recycle used papers, which would help reduce emission and energy usage. However, these benefits can only be achieved through coordination and collaboration from all related stakeholders,” she said.

Reporter: Hutahaean Andina Putri

Translator: Verdyllan Agusta