Section 2: Indonesia Country Report: Wastewater Management in Indonesia—Opportunities and Challenges, pp. 7-33

By Fitrian Ardiansyah and Rudy Abdul Rahman, published by UN WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), WIPO Green -The market place for sustainable technology, 2016, World Intellectual Property Organization 34, chemin des Colombettes, P.O. Box 18, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland. For the complete pdf version of the magazine (2.72MB), please click: wipo_ip_mnl_15_report or http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/mdocs/en/wipo_ip_mnl_15/wipo_ip_mnl_15_report.pdf

Summary of Section 2:

This project report aims to identify and assess the technologies needed to improve wastewater treatment in Indonesia.

The objective is to identify and assess at least 15 wastewater treatment technology needs and technology seekers from Indonesia. The report also briefly reviews the legal frameworks that govern Indonesia’s wastewater treatment, its technologies and relevant intellectual property issues.

Indonesia has three types of regulations governing wastewater treatment. The first type is
environmental-related regulations.

The key aspect of these regulations is that technologies developed or introduced are required to maintain wastewater discharge below the allowable threshold. The second is technology-related regulation.

The key point of these regulations is that technologies are required to meet Indonesian National Standards (SNI). The last type of regulation covers technology transfer and intellectual property rights. Technologies developed or introduced in Indonesia are required to follow the Indonesia’s laws on technology transfer and intellectual property.

15 technology seekers were interviewed for the preparation of the report. The list is comprehensive, consisting of organizations and companies working in palm oil, rubber, pulp and paper and other relevant sectors, and in urban areas.

The coverage of technology seekers is diverse, incorporating three major islands of Indonesia, Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan.

The interviews revealed five important points.

Technological needs. Many technology seekers need innovative technologies that can both help address their wastewater issues and provide useful outputs or by-products.

Wastewater technology seekers, on the other hand, require support in almost all technical fields, including design aspects, alternative energy production, energy conservation and waste management.

Sustainability. Almost all seekers need technological solutions immediately, but the solutions need to be usable over the long-term.

Geographical spread. Although the technology might be used only in seekers’ areas, it is also needed in other parts of the country. Thus, if a new or adjusted technology is successful, similar companies and organizations in Indonesia might adopt the technology.

Intellectual property rights. Many seekers need help in buying products and technologies. They require other technology transfer support, including project development, technical assistance (training on intellectual property rights, patenting, licensing and negotiation) and consultancy.

Capacity, infrastructure and financing. Some seekers have knowledge and experience in wastewater management; others do not. Many seekers are connected to transport infrastructure, but only a few have access to a reliable supply of electricity. Some organizations require financial support.

In emerging economies, accelerated development in the industrial, mining and agricultural sectors and in urban areas has led to serious water pollution caused by the discharge of untreated wastewater from these industries and households.

In Indonesia, pollution is reducing the amount of available clean water by 15-35% per capita annually (http://www.wepa-db.net/policies/state/indonesia/indonesia.htm).

In Indonesia, several factors contribute to the degradation of water quality, such as domestic solid waste and wastewater, and wastewater from small and large-scale agricultural, textile, pulp and paper, petrochemical, mining, and oil and gas activities.

With regard to household or domestic waste and wastewater treatments, only 42.8% of more than 51 million households have such treatments and 56.15% dispose of their domestic waste and wastewater directly into natural watercourses (http://www.wepa-db.net/policies/state/indonesia/indonesia.htm). As a result of this pollution, the water from six major rivers in West Java is unsafe to drink.

Water bodies located near mining areas are contaminated by heavy metals such as mercury (Hg). The Water Environment Partnership in Asia (WEPA) found that of 16 sampling points near mining areas show a significant level of mercury (Hg) concentration, with the highest level of dissolved mercury in one mining area reaching 2.78 Hg/l (http://www.wepa-db.net/policies/state/indonesia/indonesia.htm).

In the agricultural sector, the expansion of oil palm plantations and the palm oil industry have resulted in a significant increase in wastewater. Palm oil processing is water-intensive (http://www.esi.nagoya-u.ac.jp/h/isets07/Contents/Session05/1003Hayashi.pdf), and if wastewater is not treated, it contributes to the worsening levels of water pollution. Water pollution affects humans, other species and the overall built environment and already fragile natural ecosystems. It can impact fisheries, agricultural production and many other economic activities. Fortunately, technology has the potential to mitigate this problem.

There is a need, however, to understand what is considered appropriate, affordable and optimal wastewater treatment technology. Users of such technology, such as municipal governments, palm oil companies, mining companies, hotel managers, and affected stakeholders need to be interviewed to understand exactly what they need to help them improve wastewater treatment. An analysis of these needs is imperative because wastewater treatment technologies cannot be directly transferred installed and used if they are found unsuitable for the Indonesian context.

It is believed that WIPO GREEN can provide a useful platform to accelerate the innovation and diffusion of wastewater treatment technologies. This report acts as a needs assessment for wastewater technologies in Indonesia and will be of use not only to technology users, but also to wider communities in the country.

The assessment outlines specific relevant wastewater treatment technologies and potential technology users, mainly from a technical standpoint. The assessment also includes a brief review of the legal framework governing wastewater treatment, its technology and related intellectual property issues. Such a review is crucial to determine whether a particular wastewater treatment technology can be developed or introduced in Indonesia.

The report also attempts to delineate some economic and financing components of the technology so that it can give a clearer idea of whether a particular technology is feasible and affordable for technology users in Indonesia.

For the complete pdf see: wipo_ip_mnl_15_report or http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/mdocs/en/wipo_ip_mnl_15/wipo_ip_mnl_15_report.pdf