Hipmi: There Is A Business Potential From B3 Waste Processing During The Pandemic

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi) saw a business potential in managing medical hazardous and toxic waste (B3) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This potential arises due to the limited number of companies engaged in this field during the pandemic.

"The distribution of B3 medical waste processing companies in Indonesia is very small," said Roy Wangintan from Division 4 of Transportation and BUMN BPP Hipmi during a discussion on the Task Force for Handling COVID-19 at Graha BNPB, reported by Antara, Jakarta, Tuesday, September 1.

According to data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) as of April 2020, there are 14 companies engaged in the management of B3 medical waste. The companies are spread across Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Riau Islands and East Kalimantan.

This needs to be a concern because this opportunity becomes greater during a pandemic, when the volume of B3 medical waste increases due to the increased use of personal protective equipment (PPE) both in hospitals and in households.

According to Roy, since the beginning of the pandemic, many entrepreneurs have started to expand their business in the field of medical devices or PPE but they still see little potential in treating B3 medical waste.

Several opportunities in the medical waste management sector include transportation, processing, destruction equipment providers for training in handling COVID-19 medical waste, environmental management and monitoring services.

"Not only seeing business potential, but businesses in the B3 waste management sector can also help government efforts to overcome waste problems," said Roy.

"Besides being able to become entrepreneurs and starting a business there, we can also help the government in handling COVID-19 and the current national economic program launched by the government is very much appreciated and we can contribute significantly," said Roy.