Sustainability Initiatives

Environmental Management System

Teladan Prima Agro (TPA) in its commitment to implementing the Sustainable Palm Oil Policy, has implemented various Environmental Management Systems to preserve the surrounding environment, including the assessment of high carbon stock, high conservation value, management of peatland, soil and water, zero burning policy, greenhouse gas reduction efforts, waste management, and energy conversion.

High Carbon
Stock

Tropical forests are important stores of carbon, are rich in biodiversity, and are sources of livelihoods for many communities. Operating in Indonesia especially on the island of Kalimantan places Teladan Prima Agro near areas with an abundance of biodiversity that must be protected and sustainably preserved. Teladan Prima Agro has developed a transparent and empirically credible environmental management system to realize its commitment to protecting the environment.

In realizing its no-deforestation commitment, Teladan Prima Ago and its subsidiary companies actively conduct third-party carbon stock assessments to identify High Carbon Stock (HCS) areas for protection and distinguishes High Carbon Stock areas from degraded lands with low carbon stock that may be developed. Teladan Prima Agro is committed to breaking the link between deforestation and land for development throughout our operations and supply chains.

High Conservation Value

Areas with high biological, ecological, social, or cultural values are considered to be High Conservation Value (HCV) areas. These HCV areas need to be maintained and managed as they are of outstanding significance and critical importance. Teladan Prima Agro consistently thrives to preserve biodiversity within the company’s areas as manifested in the Company’s Sustainable Palm Oil Policy and enactment of ISPO principles.

In developing new areas, TPA carries out HCV identification as part of its standard procedure to ensure that its development continues to create a positive impacts on the environment and surrounding communities. This evaluation is conducted in collaboration with AKSENTA. After the evaluation is carried out, TPA obtains recommendations on the locations that can be developed without disturbing the existing HCV.

Currently, Teladan Prima Agro has identified 3,405 hectares of HCV across its operational areas. Other than identifying HCV areas, Teladan Prima Agro coordinates with local agencies to implement appropriate management measures and formulates a taskforce to closely monitor the effectiveness of these measures.

Additionally, Teladan Prima Agro also conducts rehabilitation to enhance HCV areas’ value and actively educates employees, local communities as well as stakeholders on the importance of protecting flora, fauna, endangered species, and ecosystems found across these HCV areas.

Teladan Prima Agro’s success is tied to the quality of the environment surrounding its operations. Hence, protecting HCV and HCS areas is an integral part of Teladan Prima Agro’s sustainable operations.

Management of Peatlands, Soil, and Water

Teladan Prima Agro (TPA) does not develop on peatland. This is in line with strict national regulations governing the use of peatlands, TPA’s Sustainable Palm Oil Policy, and ISPO standards. TPA acknowledges that development on peatlands pose a significant threat to the environment as planting oil palm on peatland can generate fires and cause flooding in surrounding areas. Additionally, developing on peatlands is not commercially sensible as they planting on peat land hinders oil palm trees’ growth and quality.

In regards to soil and water management, TPA uses an end-to-end integrated system within its plantations and factory operations. According to the company’s SOP, the HSSE Department and the Plantation Unit carries out the implementation of land and water management. As part of its land and water management, The Research Department in collaboration with the Operations, Integration, and Improvement Department, and TPA partner consultants make analytical observation in order to provide recommendations for future soil and water management.

Zero Burning Policy

Teladan Prima Agro (TPA) adheres strictly to its zero-burning policy stated within its Sustainable Palm Oil Policy. Teladan Prima Agro implements a gradual and mechanical stacking method when conducting land development. Mechanical clearing contributes to a holistic fire management approach and prevent further carbon emission released by burning.

TPA is not only committed to its zero-burning policy, but the company is also committed to taking a wide range of preventive measures such as establishing a certified emergency response body. Up to 2016, the established emergency response body was located in 4 regions: 30 people in the Berau area, 91 people in the East Kutai region, and 30 people the Paser region. The formation of this team is an important initiative by the company to prevent forest fires.

The company continues to develop technology-based programs using NASA’s daily satellite monitoring data to strengthen its forest fire warning systems by issuing alerts via SMS and e-mail to recipients within a 10 km radius from its plantations’ boundaries.

Greenhouse Gases

Teladan Prima Agro recognizes that greenhouse gas emissions resulting from oil palm plantation activities are naturally one of the most significant impacts produced by agribusinesses. Therefore, TPA is committed to reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions from our operations and actively support government targets and efforts to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions. 

The National Action Plan for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction (RAN-GRK), launched by the government in 2009, sets a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26% by 2020. In contributing to this national effort, TPA conserves HCS and HCV areas as one of its contributions to avoid emissions.

Additionally, we carry out our Zero Waste Policy and aim to reuse, recover and recycle waste generated from our CPO production process in our upstream operations to be used as a renewable energy source, generating electricity for our palm oil mills. Consequently, TPA’s efforts to reuse the waste from its activities effectively reduce its dependency on non-renewable energy sources. 

Waste Management

As part of our zero-waste management policy, TPA has implemented a variety of management methods and approaches tailored to the type of waste handled.

Wastewater from palm oil processing activities such as sterilization, oil purification and the separation of shells, and kernels in Claybath and Hydrocyclone is processed at the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP or IPAL) to reduce pollutant levels required to meet environmental quality standards. Subsequently, after the wastewater is processed at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, the treated wastewater will be re-used within our oil palm plantations.

Solid wastes generated from oil palm processing, namely empty fruit bunch, shells, and fiber, are processed into useful materials. The empty basket created from the processing of fresh fruit bunches at the palm oil mill, is used as organic fertilizer. The empty fruit bunch is useful for improving soil structure to increase the production of of oil palm plants in terms of ton/ha. Solid waste in the form of shells and fiber is used to generate green energy.

Energy Conversion

Oil palm cultivation and crude palm oil production generate large quantities of waste that can be utilized as energy to reduce dependency on non-renewable energy resources. 

To reduce our Greenhouse gas emissions, TPA has incorporated green power generation as an integral part of its business operations through its subsidiary, namely PT Daya Lestari. 

Energy conversion carried out by PT Daya Lestari focuses on utilizing solid waste from oil palm plantations and mills, namely in the form of shells and fiber as fuel. The heat generated from the shells and fiber is used to heat boiler water and produce steam pressure to move the steam turbine. 

This steam turbine functions as a prime mover to turn the generator to produce electric power. The electricity generated is used for the palm oil mill’s operational needs and sold to PLN to be distributed to meet the electricity needs of the community living within the vicinity of our plantations.