09 June 2024
Harita Nickel organized an Enviro Talk to commemorate World Environment Day 2024. The discussion, themed “Fighting Plastics One Bag at a Time,” addressed the issue of plastic waste within the company's operational areas and explored concrete steps for its management.
The Enviro Talk was held on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at the cinema of PT Halmahera Persada Lygend, a Harita Nickel business unit operating a nickel limonite processing and refining plant using High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) technology. The event was attended by company management, academics, and hundreds of employees from various Harita Nickel business units.
The first speaker, Mochamad Candra Wirawan Arief, PhD, a lecturer from the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences at Universitas Padjajaran, explained the environmental hazards of plastic waste and management strategies. He highlighted that the increasing use of single-use plastics has significantly contributed to global plastic waste.
He also emphasized the need for collaboration and individual responsibility in environmental conservation, suggesting that reducing single-use plastics, such as using tote bags for shopping, could have a substantial impact if adopted collectively.
“For instance, using a tote bag when shopping. While the impact of a single individual may seem minimal, the collective adoption of this practice by all Insan Harita will yield significant benefits,” he explained, commending Harita personnel’s initiative to reduce plastic waste through the #AwalBaikdariObi movement.
Meanwhile, Iwan Syahroni, Deputy Department Head of HSE at Harita Nickel, outlined the company’s environmental management in each and every plan and operation of the company. Participants were informed about the company's initiatives to preserve the environment on Obi Island, which include monitoring water, air, and biodiversity quality, managing hazardous waste, reclamation and re-vegetation, and coral reef restoration. He also highlighted a number of environmental services such as artificial reef cubes from nickel slag and planting mangrove outside the company’s operational area.
“Our responsibility is to preserve the environment and ensure that our operational activities do not harm existing ecosystems,” Iwan stated.
The interactive Enviro Talk, which lasted approximately two hours, saw enthusiastic participation. Attendees were engaged and promptly asked questions during the Q&A session, demonstrating increased awareness of environmental issues and a commitment to taking concrete actions.
“This event provided valuable insights into waste management, particularly regarding the plastic waste we frequently use. I am now more aware of the importance of reducing single-use plastics and recognize that collective small actions can make significant differences,” said Lusty Rahmatina from the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Department.
As a commitment to this cause, Harita Nickel and Lygend Resources management signed an agreement supporting the #AwalBaikdariObi initiative to reduce plastic use in their operational areas. This collaboration signifies the company's dedication to taking concrete steps towards sustainable environmental impact reduction.
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