Semen Baturaja Commemorates World Environment Day by Planting Trees and Swapping Plastic Waste for Coffee Movement

BATURAJA – In order to commemorate World Environment Day, PT Semen Baturaja Tbk (SMBR) carried out a tree planting activity as a real manifestation of the company’s commitment to environmental sustainability and efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

The activity, which was held on Friday morning (13/6), took place in the biomass area and directly involved all levels of the Board of Directors and the company’s Vice President. Not only internally, SMBR also invited contractors who were involved in the reclamation activities to participate in planting trees as a form of collaboration to protect the environment collectively.

The Board of Directors who attended included President Director Suherman Yahya, Director of Finance & HR Rahmat Hidayat, and Director of Operations Taufik.

World Environment Day, which is commemorated every June 5, is a very important global momentum in increasing awareness and collective action towards environmental protection. This year, the theme of the commemoration set is “Planting More Trees and Ending Plastic Pollution” or “Plant More Plants and Stop Plastic Pollution”.

The trees planted in this activity consist of productive types of plants such as Tangerine (Citrus Reticulata), Starfruit (Averrhoa Carambola), Alligator Avocado (Persea Americana) and Guava (Psidium Guajava). These plants were chosen because they have the potential to provide ecological and economic benefits to the surrounding environment.

In his speech, Suherman Yahya said that this momentum should be a shared reflection to continue to contribute to protecting the earth. “Planting these trees is a step to instill a commitment in each of us to love the environment. We want to continue to produce efficient and quality products, which of course also has an impact on achieving the best performance for all of us,” said Suherman.

Furthermore, Suherman explained that this activity is part of the company’s long-term strategy in supporting sustainable environmental management.

“We are also committed to continuing to support government policies in environmental management, including in the implementation of tree planting in greening efforts such as planting biomass plants (calliandra trees) which have been carried out, namely stage 1 totaling 1500 and stage 2 totaling 1200 so that the total that we have planted is 2700 trees,” he explained.

In addition to tree planting, SMBR is also running a plastic pollution reduction initiative through the Eco Café Program, a creative movement entitled Ngopi Payar Pakai Sampah. This program was motivated by concerns about the large piles of plastic waste in the community. Through this program, the community can exchange used plastic bottles that are collected for a cup of coffee.

Eco Café is the result of a collaboration with Semen Baturaja’s fostered MSMEs based in Baturaja, namely Ngopi Kuday, which is active in empowering the local economy. Since its launch in 2023, this program has succeeded in building public awareness to care about the environment. In 2024, the total number of plastic bottles collected through this program reached 758.5 ​​kilograms.

“Semen Baturaja is the first pioneer of the Eco Café Program in OKU Regency, we want to build a shared awareness that protecting the environment can start from simple things. Swapping plastic bottles for coffee is not only a symbol of the green movement, but also a real effort to form a new culture that cares about reducing plastic waste in society,” said Suherman.

Through these various activities, Semen Baturaja emphasizes that its commitment to environmental sustainability is not only realized through internal company efforts, but also through collaborative initiatives that support the creation of long-term sustainability for the environment and society. (*)