During a Youth Pledge Day event held on October 28, 2017 at the Bogor Presidential Palace, the Chairman of Badan Ekonomi Kreatif (BEKRAF) Indonesia, Mr. Triawan Munaf, introduced Avani Eco to President Joko Widodo. “I am frustrated,” said Kevin Kumala, the co-founder and chief green officer of Avani when he first met President Widodo. As an Indonesian youngster who cares so much about the environment and its sustainability, Kevin expressed his concerns for Indonesia as the second largest producer of plastic waste in the world.

Kevin then proceed to explain Avani’s product variations that could provide solutions for a greener Indonesia. President Widodo was interested to know about the products’ price and status, “How much does it cost? Has it been mass produced?”, asked President Widodo while holding the bio-cassava bag. Kevin replied that Avani has progressed to mass scale production, manufacturing up to 200 tons bio-plastic per month. However, due to the production costs, the price of the product is rather premium, hence Avani needs government’s support to help promote a wider use of compostable bio-plastic.

The discussion continued until President Widodo asked for Kevin’s business card while still admiring Avani’s products. Each one of Avani’s team who were present at the time were delighted and very grateful that we were able to directly communicate to the President that Indonesia is finally ready to fight plastic waste. In the future, we hope that the relationship between Avani and the government can continue to grow because if everything performs accordingly, Indonesia will be able to accomplish its target in lowering the volume of greenhouse gas emissions to 29 percent in 2030.