Academics Agree FABA Has Great Benefits In Construction

JAKARTA - Solid waste from burning steam power plants (PLTU), boilers, and industrial furnaces or known as FABA (Fly Ash and Bottom Ash), is considered potential enough to provide more benefits economically.

Sepuluh November Institute of Technology (ITS) academic Januarti Jaya Ekaputri said it welcomed the government's initiation that removed FABA from the B3 waste list (hazardous and toxic materials).

"FABA is actually a waste that can provide added value, both as a standard of construction and a source of advanced materials," he said in a webinar Optimizing faba benefits for economic development organized by PWI Jaya, Friday, April 9.

According to Januarti, the use of FABA for various purposes should still apply the principle of prudence even though there have been exceptions from the B3 waste list.

"The utilization of FABA has often been discussed, used for raw materials to share products and this can later support the industrial sector," he said.

Similarly, Academician on Environmental Issues Fachrurrozie Sjarkowi asserts that basically industrial waste has two different sides, namely positive and negative. Meanwhile, related to this FABA he explained if the big benefits can be obtained if processed appropriately.

"FABA in the long run can generate new economic resources and assist the government in infrastructure development because the waste used can be used for construction," he said.

He also explained that Indonesia has the opportunity as one of the largest FABA utilization countries in the world because national coal consumption tends to be quite high.

"So we must be able to have a smart way how to optimize in order to be more useful. This is in line with the principle of natural sustainability because it utilizes waste, moreover we have a lot of power plants," he said.

For information, the average use of coal for domestic production activities reaches 80 million tons per year.

Of these, the resulting ash waste content is about 8 to 10 percent. This means that the availability of national FABA can be utilized by 4.8 million tons to 8 million tons annually.

To be known, the government has recently issued Government Regulation (PP) No. 22 of 2021 on the Implementation of Environmental Protection and Management containing B3 and Non-B3 waste management directives from coal burning activities (FABA).

Beleid itself is a derivative of Law No. 11 of 2020 on Copyright Work released by the state as part of the policy of structural reform in Indonesia.