TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is aggressively campaigning for the use of eco-friendly products, urging the public to purchase goods that pose no harm to the environment. Unfortunately, most producers are reluctant to make eco-friendly goods due to their small market.
"We still need to see it from the business side," Togar Sitanggang, senior manager for corporate affairs at PT Musim Mas, said on Sunday, January 24. PT Musim Mas is one of Indonesia's palm oil suppliers whose products are certified as environmentally-friendly.
According to Togar, the demand for eco-friendly products is still low, whereas the production cost is higher compared to regular products.
Musim Mas has a Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certificate for its palm oil goods. To obtain the certificate, the company must audit their oil palm plantations, the processing facility and procedures, as well as the sustainability of areas surrounding the plantations.
Despite having an RSPO certificate, their products don’t sell well. Togar said that out of Musim Mas' 6 million tons of production output, around 4 million tons fail to sell.
Supriadi, the company's oil palm plantation manager, said that in order to produce eco-friendly products they must limit the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The company also cannot expand their plantations at will.
"When processing waste, we must ensure that we don’t pollute our surroundings. The cost for that is not small," he said. The tools required to reprocess oil waste cost up to tens of billions of rupiah.
On the downstream level, palm oil that is turned into derivative goods like soap or chocolate require additional costs before they can be labeled as eco-friendly.
Therefore, Togar said, the company decided that eco-friendly labeling is not compulsory. "Only if consumers demand us to, then we will, If not, then, we won't," he said.
This reluctance to place label will complicate WWF's efforts to urge consumers to buy eco-friendly goods. Consumers will have difficulties telling if a product is made from environmentally friendly materials if there is no distinguishing label.
Margareth Meutia, WWF Indonesia's footprint campaign coordinator, said that encouraging people to buy good products is not easy; it requires a lot of efforts. "The indicators of our success would be the increase in demand and production of goods labeled as eco-friendly. We will continue with this campaign in order to increase public awareness," she said.
Togar welcomes WWF's campaign, hoping that if the public is more aware of the necessity to buy eco-friendly goods—hence expanding the market reach—then producers will be more motivated to tap into the industry. "Give us the numbers. If they are good, then we will follow," he said.
URSULA FLORENE
