Environmental Ethics Policy in Jepara: Optimization of Handicraft Designs from Wood Waste in the Furniture Industry

Some of the benefits of wood that are often found are construction materials for houses and buildings, household appliances, artwork, furniture, and handicrafts (Fandiyanto, 2018). To reduce the energy consumption of buildings, it is possible to expand the use of wood as a structural or thermal insulation material with a low thermal conductivity (Yang et al., 2020). The selection of wood used for these purposes is based on various considerations, such as the strength and durability of wood, wood price, fiber texture, and other wood properties because the wood produced by each tree has different characteristics (Bowyer et al., 2003).

Manufacturing wood products requires many processes, from the extraction of logs to the finished product, all of which can pollute the soil, air, and water. Approximately 50% of wood is converted into valuable products, and the rest goes into waste, such as bark, slabs, sawdust, chips, coarse residue, planar shavings, core log strippers, and end pieces (Zeng et al., 2013). Several types of wood waste are produced during the production process, including sawdust waste, wood shaving waste, and wood chip waste. Various attempts have been made to add value to each type of wood waste, including the manufacturing of laminated wood, particle wood, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), high-density fiberboard, wood briquettes, and wood ornaments (Suprijono et al., 2020). Several studies have attempted to develop novel pretreatment processes to improve the economic feasibility of biorefinery processes using lignocellulosic biomass (Han et al., 2020). MDF is a wood-based composite panel widely used in the building and furniture industries (Khanjanzadeh and Park, 2020).

Teak wood is of high quality (Febrian and Prabowo, 2017). Muna teakwood, especially from old stands, has been popular as a raw material in the timber industry in Indonesia for the past ten decades (Savero et al., 2020). Teak wood furniture has an aesthetic value and economic potential for national and global trade because of its high durability and aesthetic value (Hidayat and Pramono, 2020). Wood waste management activities are conducted using independent capital from artisans and entrepreneurs. This wood waste can be recycled to make dining tables and blackboards, including the production of various products such as dragon shapes (Retantoko and Sulbi, 2016). The production process that must be considered when developing a waste-based product, namely wood materials, must be studied, and the source of wood is very important because customers want quality goods. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to creativity and carving techniques to produce high-quality products. Recycled teak wood products based on wealth and local wisdom can improve the community’s economy (Sukesi et al., 2019).

For the area around Jepara, if old wood is used, teak wood is of higher quality than the others (Suranto et al., 2015). A special method is needed to determine wood quality (Malik, 2012; Nurfaroka et al., 2016). Quality wood can increase sales value, and there is considerable interest and support for furniture production. Quality wood can increase sales to local buyers and buyers from various regions (domestic). Each wood is known to have different characteristics, namely, color, pattern, texture, grain direction, luster, tactile impression, odor, wood hardness, growth circle, pore arrangement, pore size, pore frequency, pore content, area perforations, radius groups, radius arrangement, parenchyma shape, and intercellular canals. These characteristics affect the strength, durability, and uniqueness of each type of wood. In addition, it significantly affects the purchase and selling prices (Sumardi, 2014).

The processing techniques are machine-based and partly manual; thus, the results are better than expected. During the product processing process, the wood is first measured and then sawed. Subsequently, it is cut according to the plan and design of the product being worked on. The stages of working on waste products involve selecting the type of wood according to the order and wishes of the customer. Subsequently, the wood is cut. The finishing technique mostly involves spraying because the results are better and more satisfactory. The average processing time from design to finished product was approximately two weeks, depending on the complexity of the product design and the mason’s work duration per day.

When making product revisions, porous wood is inappropriate for household appliances such as cabinets. Artisans are also involved in the production of various products. Production is sourced from the company’s personnel, and most people plant teak trees on their land. Jepara has adequate skilled human resources. Competency development is one of the determining elements in improving creative industry performance, providing a sharper and more specific perspective of workers and their work. Human resource management strategies that align with a company’s strategy encourage high effectiveness and efficiency, accelerate the company’s business processes, and improve organizational quality (Muizu and Effendi, 2015).

The industry controls the convenience of using the product by paying attention to customer complaints so that the suitability of the wood used can be assessed. Products of small companies are not copyrighted. Small-home industry-scale companies also do not have trademarks or trade rights for certain products that are officially registered. The products do not have standard certificates from certain institutions; only international companies have certificates. However, Jepara-carved furniture is protected by a certificate of Geographical Indication (GI; Jazuli, 2016). Communal ownership means that it belongs to all people with registered GIs (Adnyana, 2019). The protection of GIs must be taken seriously because it is the result of intellectual work to avoid infringement or abuse of rights arising from the birth of intellectual work (Dewi and Landra, 2019).

GI is a separate Intellectual Property Right that is different from other intellectual property rights because it can only be registered as a shared/communal right. Law Number 20 of 2016 regulates GI and trademarks. GI is a communal right; therefore, carrying out its protection can cause various problems, both in terms of product marketing by external parties and the community that owns the GI itself (Mahila, 2019). The registration of GIs includes obstacles such as the public not knowing about the protection of GIs, the government not actively fostering potential GI products, and legal concerns when there is a blurring of norms (Sinaga and Priyanto, 2020).

The role of certain institutions or industries in determining product standards is very important because furniture production can make it easier to support facilities and infrastructure, similar to other agencies and institutions. There are no specific rules or regulations from the government related to product standardization; however, an inspection team always controls furniture products.

Small- and medium-sized enterprises dominate the Jepara furniture industry. It is Indonesia’s largest center for carving and furniture manufacturing, with exports worth US$ 150 million per year, or around 10 percent of Indonesia’s total furniture exports. In 2020, the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises Cooperatives, together with the Indonesian Furthermore and Craft Industry Association, agreed to double furniture and handicraft exports (Catriana, 2020). The manufacturing industry plays an important role in boosting investment and export values, making it the mainstay sector for accelerating national economic growth (Kemenperin, 2019).

Marketing strategies are often implemented through limited exhibitions and promotions in Jepara. In addition, these products are manufactured at affordable prices. The affordable price strategy is very supportive of the product, especially for other products, and is related to the use of high-quality wood. Consumer interest is strongly influenced by the quality of the designs created (Sutiyem et al., 2019).

Market competition among business actors is strongly influenced by conditions, demands, and related supporting industries (Handayani et al., 2012). Small and medium entrepreneurs’ strengths include products that the market can accept, good customer relationships, product innovations, and the ease of obtaining human resources (Riyoko and Lofian, 2020). The impact of the presence of foreign companies is marked by the emergence of new furniture companies, increasing new job opportunities in both formal and informal sectors, teaching discipline in work, awareness of achievement orientation, growing and varied furniture designs, and expanding partnership networks between foreign and local entrepreneurs (Muhson, 2004).

Some companies experienced a decrease of 16.57% due to tight competition in the furniture trade. This decline was caused by various factors, such as product quality, design, and features (Nuha and Sutopo, 2015). The determinants of competitiveness include a company’s ability to provide products according to market needs, company policy, company vision and mission, production process, price and design, product development, demand growth expectations, experts, production machinery, cooperation with foreign companies, sources of funding for research, and cooperation with supporting institutions (universities; Riyoko, 2012). In facing global trade competition, the government’s efforts to increase the competitiveness of the local wood-carved furniture industry, called Jepara Carved Furniture (JCF), are carried out by upgrading the Global Value Chain. First, the JCF upgrade form was divided into two phases: static and dynamic. Second, policy for upgrading the JCF industry is urgently needed to face global trade competition and increase value addition. Third, due to several constraints, the upgrading strategy applies only to certain JCF industries. The main challenge in global trade competition is the knowledge and awareness of the government and society about developing more efficient production (Widiartanti, 2016).

Factors that have become obstacles for the government to facilitate free trade among furniture entrepreneurs in Jepara include a) limited raw material needs. The need for wood raw materials for small and micro-scale construction in Jepara Regency is less than 99.27 m³ per year; b) Overall the local government facilities are assisting the furniture industry, but in terms of capital facilities there are certain conditions that make small and medium industries prefer not to accept capital assistance provided by the local government because it is considered complicated; c) Emergence of new competitors: emerging competitors, both in domestic and global markets; d) Certification and Intellectual Property Rights: provisions relating to environmentally friendly raw materials from international certification bodies and the lack of bar protection, resulting in several furniture product items being rejected by several countries; e) Regeneration of human resources, in terms of improving the quality of skilled human resources is very weak; and f) Marketing: access to marketing both through product exhibitions and through online media is very weak (Murdiyani and Harsasto, 2015).

Excluding oil and gas, furniture is one of Indonesia’s four main export commodities, along with palm oil, textiles, and rubber. This added value is enjoyed by tens of millions of people in the value chain. However, the furniture industry faces serious challenges due to certification issues, forest products (green or certified furniture), and wood scarcity. Certified furniture aims to conserve forest resources, promote healthy furniture manufacturing processes, and improve the welfare of artisans. Large producers are ready to supply certified furniture, whereas small producers are not (Purnomo et al., 2011). The use of wood is also an important issue from a national perspective in terms of responding to climate change, and the Korea Forest Service enacted the Act on the Sustainable Use of Timber for the revitalization of wood use (Han et al., 2021). Wood waste from furniture can be a source of raw materials for production and high-value-added applications. In addition, using wood waste can help the wood business reduce environmental impacts while simultaneously meeting the increasing demand for wood-based products without destroying the world’s forests. Therefore, reducing, recovering, and increasing wood waste utilization should be used as strategies by forest-based industries. Proper wood waste utilization significantly helps reduce environmental impacts without destroying the world’s forests (Pandey, 2022).

The wood-based business sector generates large amounts of wood waste that must be properly managed, reused, marketed, or disposed of. Wood is the most widely used material for preparing structures, floors, and interiors of a building (Jang, 2022). The utilization of teak wood waste reduces waste and reduces air pollution because, so far, teak wood waste has only been used as firewood. This is detrimental to the environment and the society. Many people are affected by pollution because they are poisoned by smoke resulting from a lack of utilization of teak wood waste (Wicaksono and Wijayanto, 2018). Good wood waste management significantly reduces emissions (Bergeron, 2014). Using wood waste materials in the form of sawdust and wood fibers provides a greener alternative for recycling industrial waste, owing to existing waste management options, as well as saving natural resources and CO₂ emissions. They are required to manufacture raw materials for mortar (Ince et al., 2021).

In European countries, various legal and regulatory policies related to wood waste have diverse implications. However, there is reluctance to invest in and support the use of wood waste, perhaps not because of a lack of resources alone but also a lack of understanding of the potential benefits of valuing waste and the impact of not doing so (Borzȩcki et al., 2018). In Turkey, ethical morality regarding literacy and awareness of environmental preservation, related to four topics, including (i) professions and livelihoods related to the environment; (ii) species protection; (iii) environmental awareness; (iv) taking advantage of nature and love of animals (Alabaş, 2019), has become a compulsory basic education curriculum since the early 20th century.

In 2015, Germany generated 11.9 million tons of wood waste from the demolition, construction, packaging, and processing industries. Finland produces approximately 207,000 tons of wood waste per year with a recovery rate of approximately 31,000 tons/year. Sweden produces more than 10% of the global timber industry waste in pulp and paper products (Garcia and Hora, 2017). The furniture industry uses forest products in the form of wood as the main raw material in the production process. The amount of wood used by the furniture industry in Indonesia reaches 2.6 million m³ per year. The waste generated accounts for 54.24% of total production (Desiasni et al., 2021).

Australia, Finland, Zimbabwe, and Japan have learned that the timber industry has a high recovery rate of at least 52%, which reduces waste. The Australian use of waste wood produces various building materials and engineered wood, such as plywood, laminated veneers, and glued plywood particleboards. The annual revenue scale of this sector is quite large, at approximately 7.3 million Euros (Bruns, 2017). The development of wood-waste-based products in Finland is growing rapidly for various products, including textiles, chemicals, biofuels, and plastic substitutes (Ramage et al., 2017). Local people in Zimbabwe use wood waste in the form of wood chips as fresh wood and use it in commercial sawmills to generate steam for drying cloth (Charis et al., 2019). In Japan, the furniture industry produces 15 million m³ of wood waste, more than 90% of which is recycled to produce wood-based panels and fuels (Hiramatsu et al., 2002).

Wood waste can be used as a resource for the production of different materials by reshaping or creating new economic products. Various techniques have been used to utilize wood waste. In Jepara, wood waste is turned into products in the form of handicrafts, carving products, household furniture, non-furniture crafts, and engineered wood products (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6. Wood waste production in Jepara.

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The government is tasked with protecting the entire Indonesian nation, including the environment and both the biotic (living community) and the abiotic (inanimate community) communities: “Earth, water, and the natural resources contained therein are controlled by the state and used for the greatest prosperity of the people” (Article 33, Paragraph 3 of the 1945 Constitution). The state must protect and maintain the environment so that people can prosper (Asshiddiqie, 2009). The past decades have been dominated by ongoing urbanization and the development of technology, particularly renewable energy sources. Following this trend, Japan introduced a Green Growth Strategy set of policies aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 (Marinova et al., 2023).

Paragraph (1) in Article 28H of the 1945 Constitution states that “everyone has the right to live in physical and spiritual prosperity, to have a place to live, and to get a good and healthy environment and has the right to receive health services” (Yusa and Hermanto, 2018). This clearly shows Indonesia’s recognition of environmental rights as part of the Indonesian people’s basic rights (human rights). This means that the constitutionalization of the environment aims to prevent policies, laws, and regulations under the 1945 Constitution from contradicting the 1945 Constitution, which is already pro-environmental. Law No. 32 of 2009 also included other rules concerning Environmental Protection and Management (Pratama, 2020). A good and healthy environment is a fundamental right of every Indonesian citizen, as mandated in Article 28H of the 1945 Constitution (Sugiartha and Widiati, 2020). The concept of environmental sovereignty is regulated in Articles 25A and 28H, paragraph (1), and Article 33, paragraphs (3) and (4). These articles provided green nuances to the 1945 Constitution to realize environmental sovereignty (Sodikin, 2019).

A comparison of the results of the two approaches leads to the conclusion that current waste wood management is coherent with the various goals of Swiss federal policies, but the waste wood potential for energy production is not fully exploited (Bergeron, 2014). To minimize environmental impacts and provide a scientific basis for the decision-making process of wood waste management systems, a life cycle assessment approach was used in this study to evaluate potential management systems from an environmental point of view (Hossain and Poon, 2018). In Europe, approximately 46% of wood waste is recycled into particleboard and fiberboard, whereas the remaining fraction is incinerated (Pazzaglia et al., 2023).

Waste treatment in Jepara, as a carving city, still needs to be improved, as management mistakes harm the environment and society and cause environmental pollution (Sa’idah et al., 2020). However, the government’s role in waste management needs to be maximized, even though this role has been carried out (Sumadi and Prathama, 2021). The Indonesian government’s efforts to overcome environmental pollution problems have been carried out by issuing laws and regulations from both governments and ministries. However, the results still need to be improved significantly, and these problems persist (Yudo and Said, 2017).

Legal policies must begin by organizing the management of wood waste and its utilization. Based on the theory of an organic state, if looking at it from the aspect of enforcing environmental administration law, the state has regulated the enforcement of environmental administrative sanctions in which the state can regulate every activity and business in the environmental sector in Indonesia (Thahira, 2019). Therefore, the government must create comprehensive information and databases on wood waste to help policymakers plan and formulate policies for its management. It is important to formulate an environmentally sound development strategy to protect the environment by identifying problems that are handled with the concept of the environment and the role of the local community in optimally and sustainably supporting environmentally sound development (Yanti and Badriyah, 2018).

Modern technology and experiences from developing countries must be studied in terms of wood waste utilization to educate business actors, including innovations according to market demand. It is also necessary to increase environmental law awareness regarding ethical, social, discretionary, legal, and economic responsibilities. The theory of cultural adaptation argues that each individual undergoes several stages of cultural adaptation or assimilation, namely enculturation, deculturation, and acculturation (Ambar, 2018). Teak wood crafts and furniture in Jepara are the hereditary cultures of the previous generation. In Korea, cultural resources have been academically defined as resources that have been created, maintained, and transmitted through human cultural activities and are evaluated as valuable for the foundation of a new cultural industry, including cultural heritage handed down through history (Han and Lee, 2021).

Wood waste can be minimized by increasing the efficiency of primary wood utilization and using raw wood materials derived from sustainable forest management without further impacting the natural environment and forests. Potential utilization requires technology related to (i) good operational practices, (ii) recycling, (iii) reuse, and (v) recovery and a combination of technological changes. In addition, it should pay attention to the provisions of Article 57 of the Constitution as guidelines for recycling and reuse with due regard to the environment. In the provisions of Article 57, paragraph (1) it is regulated regarding procedures for environmental maintenance, namely: “Environmental maintenance is carried out through efforts: a. natural resource conservation; b. reserves of natural resources; and/or c. preservation of the function of the atmosphere” (Ma’ruf, 2018).

In formulating environmental policies, the government usually implements goals to be achieved through environmental policies, accompanied by follow-up directions on how to set goals that can be achieved so that the public can observe them (Thahir, 2021). Preventive efforts carried out by officials include counseling and community monitoring by building stakeholder commitment in perception and collaboration to protect, preserve, and manage the environment and preventive efforts. The apparatus’s repressive efforts involve thoroughly investigating the threats of criminal, civil, and administrative sanctions (Hartati, 2018). In discussing the legal aspect of controlling environmental pollution, the problem revolves around human efforts to prevent and deal with pollution using the law (Soekanto, 1982).

In addition, there is a need for the dissemination of creative management and effective exploitation of wood waste. The management and utilization of wood waste in Jepara need to adopt multidimensional experiences in various countries to develop the quality and quantity of product design. It is necessary to measure the spatial (space) and temporal (time) dynamics of wood waste to ensure the sustainability of future supply, transportation costs, optimal location, and size of energy conversion facilities. In environmental protection and management, systematic and integrated efforts are made to preserve environmental functions and prevent environmental pollution and damage, including supervision, rather than planning, utilization, control, maintenance, and law enforcement (Evita and Ariyanti, 2018). Some principles of good governance that form the basis for community involvement in environmental management are based on rights, obligations, and community participation, namely, the principles of public participation, transparency, and equality. The basis for community involvement in environmental management is Article 2 of Law Number 32 of 2009, which regulates the principles of environmental protection and management (Nopyandri, 2014).

Eco centric management requires a working paradigm regarding (i) marketing for consumer education, (ii) financing for long-term sustainable growth, (iii) accounting for environmental costs, and (iv) human resource management to create meaningful work and safe and healthy workplaces (Zaman, 2013). The main goal of ecocentrism is ecological sustainability (Yusran and Asnelly, 2018). Eco centric ethics are applied to preserve the environment and biodiversity (Mumpuni et al., 2015).