On 27-29 April 2016, Rene Van Berkel, PhD., Puji Lestari, PhD., and Ade Hartanti were representing CRECPI-ITB, together with regional CRECPI team, Simping Yuliatun, M.Si, Risvan Kuswurjanto, ST., Juwari, ST., M. Eng, PhD, and Abdu F. Assomadi, SSi., MT had the discussion with managers and staffs of processing, techniques, and quality control of PG Semboro, PG Tjoekir, PG Pesantren Baru, and PG Pagottan. The majority of initial observation by NEs has been followed up by the factories. Several improvements have been seen, yet the impact cannot be observed since the milling season will only be started in about a month.

The efficiency of raw material, water, and energy, also the intensity of the waste, wastewater and emission was discussed deeply to find the opportunity of efficiency improvement and losses minimization. The major sugar loss comes from the sugar contained in the molasses. The sugar loss also can be minimized from the receiving area of sugarcane, where the quality monitoring should be done more strictly. The water efficiency can be improved by using close-loop water system and recover the heat on condensate which also reduces the steam consumption generally then leads to the reduction of energy consumption in the factory. The performance of boiler needs to be assessed periodically to maintain the energy efficiency.

The consecutive step of RECP assessment in the industry is detailed assessment. The focus area of detailed assessment of each PG was decided together and will be studied more deeply by NEs, together with the industry. From the detailed assessment, several options will be generated to overcome the problem in the focus area then will be studied for its feasibility. With discussion and the approval from company’s management, the improvement recommendation will be implemented and the improvement result will be observed.