Environmental Impact of Palm Oil Industry in Indonesia

Indonesia is one of the world largest palm oil producer after Malaysia with over 12 million tons of crude palm oil(CPO) production in 2004. About 60% of CPO is exported. Among the rest of it, around 30 % is used for cooking oil followed by 7% of oleochemical, 2% of soap and 1.6 % of margarine. In the process of CPO production, many types of bio-wastes are generated in plantations and CPO mills. In plan- tations, fell trunk, fronds at felling and annual pruning are the main bio-wastes. Empty fruit bunch(EFB), fibres and shells are generated in CPO mills. One part of fibres and shells are, in some cases, utilized for mill boiler fuels. The purpose of this study is to clarify environmental impacts of palm oil industry in Indo- nesia. This paper conducted literature review and surveyed on selected palm oil factories in Indonesia. In conclusion, most of bio-wastes were utilized: EFB and effluent for fertilizer, fibre and shell for boiler fuel, etc. However, there is still possibility to effectively utilize these bio-wastes.