SIG Offers Low Carbon Building Material Solutions For Environmentally Friendly And Sustainable Construction

Operations Director of SIG Reni Wulandari (right) while giving a speech show session with the topic Circular Approach to Accelerate Industrial Decarbonization, Thursday 4 July 2024. (Photo: Doc. SIG)

JAKARTA - The increasing human need for modern housing and life support buildings has an impact on the high contribution of the construction sector, which reached 10.49 percent of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023.

In line with the Government's efforts to create a sustainable economy and reduce the rate of climate change, PT Semen Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (SIG) continues to innovate by providing low-carbon building materials and sustainable solutions, which result from innovation and an environmentally friendly production process.

In the talk show session Green Economy Expo 2024 organized by the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas at the Jakarta Convention Center, Thursday, July 4, Operations Director of SIG Reni Wulandari said that SIG as the company providing leading building materials solutions in Indonesia always increases its capabilities by continuing to innovate in creating solutions for environmentally friendly building materials, in order to support low-carbon development and support the Government in achieving the Net Zero Emission target by 2050. This increase in capability is contained in the 2030 SIG Sustainability Roadmap.

One of the implementation of circular economic principles carried out by SIG in production activities is through the use of alternative fuels from industrial waste, biomass, and urban waste which are processed into refuse-derived fuel (RDF). SIG restores the existence of energy or minerals in waste that were previously unused, as an alternative to natural resources used in cement production while still meeting standards to maintain product quality and environmental compliance.

In addition to the use of alternative fuels, the production process in SIG factories is supported by the implementation of plant digitalization through the use of machine learning, big data and artificial intelligence to optimize production activities to achieve energy use efficiency and increase productivity. SIG also conducts research and development to produce products with lower emissions but has equal quality in its allocation class called green cement.

To accelerate the achievement of reducing carbon emissions, SIG is also developing renewable energy through the use of solar panels in its operational units, as well as optimizing exhaust hot gas from the cement production process (Waste Heat Recovery Power Generation).

"In 2023, the use of fuel and alternative raw materials throughout the SIG plant has increased to 1.65 million tons. SIG has also succeeded in reducing the coverage of GRK 1 (from operations) by 4.9 million tons of GRK compared to the baseline in 2010. Meanwhile, coverage of 2 (indirect emissions from electrical energy) was successfully reduced by 0.15 million tons of GRK," said Reni Wulandari.

On the sidelines of the talk show session, Reni Wulandari said, by carrying out a sustainable operating pattern, SIG managed to obtain a Green Label certificate from the Green Product Council Indonesia, an Ekolabel Swadaffirmation Certificate from the Ministry of Environment and Industry, and a Green Industry Certificate from the Ministry of Industry. In 2023, SIG also obtained 2 Gold and 7 Green PROPERs from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, as well as achieved the first best ESG Rating rating in the category of construction materials in Southeast Asia, through the achievement of the Medium Risk predicate with a score of 22.9 in environmental, social and environmental performance assessments., Social, Governance (ESG) Rating by the international rating institution, Sustainalytics.

Some SIG products recorded 21 percent to 38 percent lower carbon than conventional cement, including bulk cement for various infrastructure development needs and soil stabilization, cement masonry for non-structural applications, as well as innovative cement derivative products such as porous concrete to help absorb water into the ground, dry fast concrete for road repairs in a short time and avoid congestion due to road closures, as well as aesthetic decorative concrete.

SIG Corporate Secretary, Vita Mahreyni said that currently, SIG continues to make efforts to encourage the use of environmentally friendly building materials as a participatory effort in accelerating the achievement of the Net Zero Emission 2050 target. One of the initiatives carried out is to collaborate with PT Bina Karya (Persero), to provide building materials solutions including cement-based products, green cement, cement derivative products and building materials in IKN development projects.

"The solution of environmentally friendly building materials from SIG is very relevant to the concept of IKN development as a smart and green city. In the construction of IKN, of course, SIG meets the requirements, both of its products that are green and contain high TKDN values, as well as solutions that answer the challenges of infrastructure development today. For example, porous concrete products and paving porous that have the ability to absorb water well can support the development of IKN which carries the concept of a sponge city," said Vita Mahreyni.

Meanwhile, road infrastructure development can use dry concrete within hours of application. SIG is also ready to supply Soil Stabilization to increase the strength and carrying capacity of soft soil which is one of the challenges of development at IKN, by improving and improving the nature of soil engineering so that stabilized soil will be suitable for road construction or buildings.

"SIG strongly supports programs that prioritize sustainability or in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure better sustainability of life on earth for future generations and maintain sustainable business growth," said Vita Mahreyni.