Companies today face what can often be a difficult task of having to please all their stakeholders. It is a relentless challenge, one that businessman and philanthropist Sukanto Tanoto has taken on for over almost 50 years. Under his leadership, RGE – which counts APRIL, Sateri, and Pacific Oil and Gas amongst its business groups – has continuously sought to operate according to his philosophy of the 4Cs; it is a philosophy that aims to create good for the Community, Country, Climate, and Company. The good work being done, often impactful yet understated was recently recognised, as APRIL bagged two awards at the Indonesia Green Awards 2017.
APRIL Continues Long History of Commitment
APRIL, one of Indonesia’s largest pulp and paper company founded by Sukanto Tanoto, has a track record of being a responsible company. Committed to creating value for its stakeholders, it has also profited from through its sustainable production practices, counterintuitive as it seems. Amongst APRIL’s initiatives, include the Fire-Free Village Programme (FFVP), the Fire-Free Alliance (FFA), and its multiple community development programmes such as Rumah Batik Andalan programme. At the Green Awards however, two of APRIL’s programmes, the ‘Species Investment in Kampar Peninsula’ Programme and ‘Renewable Energy Development through Biomass’ Programme won awards in the Biodiversity Development and Energy Efficient, New and Renewable Energy Development categories respectively.
Creating Value Sustainably, Every Step of the Way.
Accepting the award was APRIL’s Director Rudi Fajar, who paid tribute to Sukanto Tanoto’s management philosophy, for being the driving force behind the company’s success. “We are not only pursuing profits, but also very concerned about the community around the concession and the environment”, said Mr. Fajar.
It is a sign of APRIL, and Sukanto Tanoto’s commitment to the sustainable production, a commitment deepened farther when Mr. Fajar announced that currently 100 per cent of APRIL’s power generation came from renewable sources such as biomass. The natural resources industry is often controversial, but surely, with companies like APRIL leading the way, it is a situation set for more positive change.