Indonesian Minister of Environment and Forestry Dr Ir. Siti Nurbaya M.Sc. has awarded the Danone-AQUA Mambal factory in Bali with the Gold category in the Company Performance Rating Assessment Program Award in Environmental Management (PROPER).
Regional Operations Director for Danone-AQUA Joshua Prajoga represented the AQUA Mambal Factory to receive the award, which was witnessed by the Indonesian Vice President Prof. Dr K.H. Ma’ruf Amin at the Manggala Wanabakti Auditorium in Central Jakarta.
Joshua hopes that these recognitions can inspire companies and other stakeholders to further strengthen collaboration and build a better industry, not only for the business world but also for our environment.
“The PROPER award for Danone-AQUA is in line with Danone’s business sustainability vision: One Planet, One Health. Therefore, we are proud that Danone-AQUA is again listed as a company in Indonesia which won the PROPER Gold and Green appreciation this year,” said Joshua.
Furthermore, five other AQUA factories across the country received the PROPER Green award, namely, AQUA Mekarsari Factory, AQUA Ciherang Factory, AQUA Subang, AQUA Babakanpari Factory, and AQUA Cianjur Factory within the 2019-2020 period.
Danone’s 2019-2020 sustainability initiatives in Indonesia have successfully reached a total of 133,618 beneficiaries of 10 AQUA factories that participated in PROPER. Several of its programs have been modified by focusing its sustainability initiatives to support the government’s efforts in dealing with the COVID-19 impacts across the country.
Together with partners and various related stakeholders, Danone-AQUA created various breakthroughs through community empowerment programs while still focusing on the environment and increasing the community’s economic empowerment. These programs are designed and implemented to make a positive contribution to the economy, especially for those vulnerable communities affected.
“To carry out the sustainability initiative, the company must be able to move quickly to address its environmental and social problems. With PROPER, all of the activities we do become increasingly measurable, both our commitment in the previous year as well as various innovations,” said Joshua.
The AQUA Mambal factory has succeeded in overcoming three main problems, namely the high amount of plastic waste, the high usage of land changes for tourist areas, and decreased income due to the declining number of tourists.
In dealing with the amount of plastic waste, AQUA Mambal factory is considered successful in implementing initiative packaging with a circular economy business model. Not only impactful to environmental preservation, but natural resources are also efficiently used. It is recorded that 2,500 tonnes of plastic waste in Bali have been collected and managed properly.
The AQUA Mambal factory is actively holding intensive educational activities for 2,400 elementary school students and 390 heads of families too. Sustainability initiatives in this sector have touched scavengers as vulnerable groups by providing them with health insurance, safety and quality training, as well as the distribution of masks and groceries.
The launch of the Octopus application has also helped improve their income during the pandemic in Denpasar while being able to attract consumers to be able to send plastic waste through the application.
Meanwhile, for community empowerment programs, the AQUA Mambal factory focuses its programs in the Mandiri Bongkasa Pertiwi village. The residents in this village are heavily impacted in terms of their income decreasing.
Therefore, the AQUA Mambal factory modified the program, namely by strengthening the potential of local natural resources in the village such as honey, coconut made into chips or animal manure for the manufacture of organic fertilizers. With the strengthening of local potential, new groups, including the disabled and those economically vulnerable, continue to help flourish the village’s tourism.
Moreover, this village has succeeded in becoming a mutually supportive business ecosystem. Examples include the return of environmental services in ??30 ha Kehati land, tree adoption activities tied to 657 Forestry Village Regulations, and environmentally friendly and healthy agriculture development of 44 biogas reactor units. These activities are formed into tour packages that can drive the economy of 749 beneficiary households.
“PROPER trains the industry to be more orderly and more transparent,” stated Joshua. Performance rating is divided into five colours: Gold, Green, Blue, Red and Black. This rating shows a company’s compliance by measuring its sustainability performance through various initiatives that have been done,” added Joshua.
Green and Gold are considered beyond compliance, while Blue, Red, and Black are minimal compliance. From a total of 2,040 companies from various industrial sectors that participated in the PROPER assessment in the 2019-2020 period, a total of 32 companies received the PROPER Gold Award, while the Green PROPER Award was received by 125 companies.