Asia Pacific Rayon’s (APR) first Sustainability Progress Report, covering the first 18 months of its operations through June, details the Indonesian company’s efforts focused on clean manufacturing, sustainable sourcing, and initiatives in support of employees and communities.
The report from APR, a vertically integrated operation from renewable fiber plantations to high-value textile manufacturing facilities, located in Riau, Sumatra, underscores its commitment to responsible production of its core product, viscose.
“In our first 18 months of business, we focused on laying a strong foundation by embedding sustainability in the way we operate, whether as a manufacturer, an employer, a member of the local community or a global corporate citizen,” APR director Basrie Kamba said. “Our operations are guided by our sustainability policy. We sought to actively monitor our performance so as to develop a baseline from which to improve on and to benchmark ourselves against industry peers, with the aim to be a top quartile viscose producer.”
Themed ‘Creating Sustainable Value, From Plantation to Fashion,’ the report notes that APR has attained several certifications relating to manufacturing, sourcing and product. It is the first viscose manufacturer in Indonesia to receive the STeP by Oeko-Tex certification for sustainable textile and leather production. APR’s products also carry the labels of Oeko-Tex Standard 100 confirming its viscose is free from any harmful substances, while complying with the requirements of the European Chemicals Regulation REACH; USDA Biobased; Made in Green by Oeko-Tex, verifying that an article has been tested for harmful substances, and Medically “Tested-Tested for Toxins” by FKT.
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It has also obtained ISO 9001 for quality management and 14001 for environmental management systems, and OHSAS 18001 for occupational health and safety management systems. Its PEFC Chain of Custody certification confirms sourcing from 100 percent certified dissolving wood pulp. In addition, in September APR updated its sustainability policy, strengthening its clean manufacturing commitment to the ZDHC Roadmap and adopting a roadmap to meet the emissions and consumption levels set out in EU BAT.
APR contributes to the transformation of the country’s textile industry, supporting the realization of Indonesia’s “Industry 4.0” vision. APR actively partners with local fashion stakeholders to promote viscose as an enabler for sustainable fashion and launched “Everything Indonesia” as a catalyst to revitalize Indonesia as a global center for textile manufacturing.
The company’s blockchain-based Follow Our Fiber platform provides transparency and traceability of its viscose from seed to bale. In October last year, parent company RGE Group made a $200 million investment over the next 10 years into next-generation textile fiber innovation split across three areas–70 percent toward scaling up clean technology in fiber manufacturing, 20 percent toward bringing pilot-scale production to commercial scale and 10 percent toward research and development in emerging frontier solutions.
APR has also been in active engagement with its community stakeholders with programs aimed at improving rural education standards and empowering livelihoods of women. In response to the Covid-19 health pandemic, the company provided 15,000 gowns, 150,000 medical face masks and pairs of surgical gloves to Riau’s COVID-19 taskforce. It distributed 11,000 household packages to impacted communities in 176 villages across Pelalawan and 165 hygiene kits to maternal and child health centers.
APR also produced 88,000 fabric masks and distributed them to employees, their families and households in surrounding communities.
APR’s factory with a 240,000-ton capacity, located in Pangkalan Kerinci, Riau, uses the latest production technology to produce high-quality rayon.