CNGR Finland is committed to sustainability
CNGR Finland has been criticized in the media recently, leading to unnecessary escalation of discussions on social media. We asked representatives of CNGR Finland for their perspective on the matter.
Finnish MTV3 News published a story on CNGR Finland’s battery plant project on 29th January 2025. The article cited another article, by the international NGO Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, suggesting pollution and environmental suffering due to the activities of two companies, CNGR (the Chinese parent company of the Finnish company) and the Indonesian PT Vale.
The MTV3 article pointed out that Dani Widjaja, the CEO of CNGR Finland, had worked for more than 20 years as development director for PT Vale in Indonesia before taking the helm at CNGR Finland. The allegation is that Widjaja’s employers have acted recklessly and irresponsibly in Indonesia – and now the same scene will play out in Hamina, Finland.
Get the facts
Dani Widjaja counters by saying that allegations by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre – and others – have been numerous and answered by facts. PT Vale, for example, responded to statements made in Business & Human Rights Resource Centre’s story in December 2022 – a reply that is still available on the NGO’s website.
Instead of going over the same allegations over and over again, Widjaja points out that CNGR Finland is a Finnish company that operates well within rules and regulations – and more: the company actively pursues sustainability as a matter of course.
“In today’s marketplace, there is no alternative. We abide to internationally recognized standards that are demanded by our clients.” The parent company CNGR participates, for example, in Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) and Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI).
Clients, such as Tesla, place high value on ESG concerns and are very hands-on with the supply chain. “This means that our customers come down to our production sites and perform also their own audits to make sure that everything is in order.”
CNGR’s environmental and sustainability actions
The environmental reports of parent company CNGR and PT Vale are too extensive to quote here in full detail. Nevertheless, CNGR reports that it adheres to the Paris Agreement and “implements compliant and efficient measures to address climate change, achieve carbon neutrality, and manage energy”. In this regard, CNGR is committed to, for instance, achieving carbon neutrality in operations by 2040.
When it comes to waste and pollutant management, CNGR strictly adheres to local laws, regulations, and policy standards at its operation sites to implement a tiered and categorized approach to this issue. This means, among other things, improving the disposal capacity for hazardous wastes, harmful gases, sewage and wastewater, aiming to achieve 100% non-hazardous disposal within feasible limits.CNGR reports that since 2022, the company has continuously been reducing the pollutant emission intensity where practicable, setting targets for COD, waste gas, and solid waste reduction.
PT Vale’s environmental and sustainability actions
PT Vale – a long-term employer of Widjaja who left the company in 2022 – states in its Sustainability Policy and Strategy that the company is ”committed to building strong and enduring relationships with stakeholders, investing in minimizing the impact of its activities, adhering to high ethical standards, maintaining transparent management, and actively contributing to progress related to the environment, biodiversity, and sustainable development”.
PT Vale wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33% in line with the Paris Agreement and achieve net zero GHG emissions by 2050; rehabilitate land outside the contract of work and protect biodiversity; increase clean energy usage; reduce surface water usage by 10%.
The PT Vale Sustainability Report – 100 pages long – also lists a total of 14 external awards and appreciations from various parties that the company received throughout 2023.
Set the record straight
But what if all these sustainability & environmental reports are just nice-sounding words on a piece of paper? How is a non-expert, concerned citizen in South-East Finland supposed to know the truth of it all?
Jenni Bäck, Project Development and ESG Manager at CNGR Finland, suggests that if one does not listen to the company, one should listen to the authorities. On February 12, 2024, the Finnish Regional State Administrative Agency granted CNGR Finland an environmental permit and a permit to commence operations.
“There were numerous appeals on the decision, and we are now waiting for the rulings of the court in the matter. That’s the process and we honor it.”
Bäck points out that in Finland citizens and interest groups have a chance to voice their concerns – and that’s exactly as it should be.
“This is how a democracy and an open society functions. At the same time, Finnish officials have a great reputation for making fair and balanced decisions and I don’t think this case will be any different.”
Here to stay
Dani Widjaja and Jenni Bäck maintain that CNGR Finland complies willingly with all regulations, environmental or otherwise. To skirt responsibility in any way would be shortsighted indeed:
“We, as a company, plan to be in Finland for a long, long time – and that will be impossible, if we don’t do the right thing,” Widjaja sums up.
Text: Sami Anteroinen
Photo: Jukka Koskinen