The Company recognizes that the sustainability of the oil palm business depends greatly on the environment. For this reason, the Company is committed to conserving the environment by using environment-friendly production methods in all stages of its production process: land acquisition, land preparation, seedling propagation, planting, maintenance, harvesting, transportation, processing, and product distribution. The Company also conserves areas with high conservation value to preserve the environment and maintain natural balance.


Management Approach
Because of its responsibility to conserve the natural environment, the Company performs detailed, in-depth research and studies of all areas offered by other parties for plantation expansion purposes. Land clearance – both for new areas and for replanting areas – is done with an emphasis on protecting the environment through mechanization, prevention of land fires, and water conservation and utilization management. High environmental standards are also applied in seedling cultivation and planting.

Several elements related to the environment are carefully managed to minimize negative impacts, such as the following:
• Raw material
The raw material for palm oil is oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB), which must be harvested at optimum ripeness and then processed within no more than 24 hours from harvesting to produce the best palm oil products. FFB processing is done using a food safety system to produce main products – palm oil, kernels or kernel oil – that are safe for use as food. FFB processing also generates a variety of byproducts, such as empty bunches, fiber, shells, and liquid waste, all of which are reused in the production process as fertilizer or fuel.

• Energy
Our oil palm processing plants are more efficient and kinder to the environment because they use by-products as fuel to generate energy to drive the production machinery. Biomass in the form of solid waste – oil palm fiber and shells – is used to fuel the boilers to drive the turbines that generate electric power for the plant, with some left over for employee housing. In the oil palm processing plants, fossil fuels such as diesel fuel are only used in very small quantities to start up the generators when the process begins in the morning. Thus, the green technology at the oil palm processing plants not only disposes of waste but also meets the plants’ energy needs in a cost-effective way by reusing the solid waste as renewable fuel.

• Water
Water is the main supplementary material used in the production process in the oil palm processing plants. The Company does not use groundwater in the production process; only surface water is used, after being processed to meet the required standards. The Company constantly strives to use water efficiently by recycling it and reusing it certain sections of the process. Groundwater is used only in very limited quantities to meet the needs of households in certain locations where there is no surface water.

• Biodiversity
The Company strives to conserve and, insofar as possible, enrich the biodiversity in its plantations through initiatives of planting rare trees and fruit trees along river banks and in conservation areas, in a reforestation movement with the theme “Go Green with Astra, one man one tree” in 2009. In 2010, the Company took the initiative to plant over 70,000 mangrove trees in coastal areas of West Sulawesi.

• Liquid waste and solid waste
The Company utilizes liquid waste as organic liquid fertilizer and uses solid waste in the form of empty bunches as mulch and compost
fertilizer in the oil palm plantations.


Management Policies
The Company has established management policies to preserve the natural environment, with the following targets:
• To achieve Green rating in the PROPER and Astra Green Company standards
• Zero accidents
• Zero burning
• To apply the concepts of clean production and the 5K2S program
• To foster a “Health and Safety” culture among the employees.


Support Organizations
The Company has a special division tasked with ensuring that the management policies on conservation are properly implemented. The Safety, Health & Environment (SHE) Division, located at the head office, mobilizes safety, health and environmental management, performs supervision functions, and provides support facilities and resources. At each plantation, a SHE Officer is assigned to coordinate safety, health and environmental management.