Sustainability is a way of life. Since our world is not lacking creative ideas, many people can pursue different ways to have a sustainable life. In our special episode, we had an interview with Lini Ariva, our friend who is involved in a cool startup called Mycotech, an Indonesia-based startup based in Bandung. Its main business is a durable material made of fungi, which can be applied as a sustainable alternative of leather or a decorative material in architecture. Here is our interview with her.
SAD : Lin, thank you for joining us today despite your busy schedule and the time difference between Indonesia and Europe. First, could you please introduce yourself? What kind of background do you have, what makes you tick, and what you are doing at this moment?
Lini (L) : Hello all, my name is Lini Ariva. I got my Bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering at ITB, Indonesia, and my Master's degree in Environmental Science at WUR, the Netherlands. My Major was Environmental Technology. And for now, I am working as an Environmental Health and Safety Executive at Mycotech, Indonesia.
SAD : So, you studied in ITB for your Bachelor in Environmental Engineering and in WUR for your master's degree? Can you tell us what you did and learned there?
L : Well, I learned a lot of stuff there, from technical things like planning and designing an installation for the water treatment plant, solid waste management, which I got during my study as Environmental Engineering student on ITB. And also, a lot of other related stuff likes toxicology, health and safety, as well as social impact, which was explored more during my master's study. But the best thing that I learned from my master's study was during my internship at Wetsus, Water Technology Research Center at Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, where I researched on Blue Battery.
SAD : Sorry for interrupting, Lin. What is Blue Battery? This is my first time hearing it.
L : The general idea of a blue battery is to store energy generated from other renewable energy sources like solar and wind using saltwater. Thus basically, if this technology is further developed, it can be used as alternative energy storage, which we think, more environmental-friendly than current energy storage such as lithium battery.
SAD : Wow, that sounds really cool and interesting, indeed. How did you decide to study and work in Environmental Field? do Do you always want it?
L : Honestly, no. Hahahaha. My first dream is actually to become a comic artist. But fate seems to lead me to another path. My father is the one who inspired me to study in Environmental Engineering at Bandung Technological Institute (ITB), since he himself is a lecturer on Energy Engineering and really interested in Renewable Energy. And back then, when I was in my senior year in Senior High School, my city, Bandung was very dirty because of rubbish etc. thus, I told myself that I really want to be part of the solution as someone who somehow could contribute and make a difference. Thus I made a decision to continue my study in the Environmental field.
SAD : Since you are now working with Mycotech, we want to ask you several things about your involvement in Mycotech. Can you first tell us what Mycotech is about?
L : Mycotech is Indonesian Biotechnology startup, based in Bandung, West Java. We are currently doing a lot of research on various use of fungi mycelium.
SAD : Can you perhaps share a bit of how it started or what Mycotech has been/is trying to achieve? Any statement about its vision and mission, perhaps? Or what makes Mycotech different?
L : I am not really sure myself since I joined the team last year. I will try to answer with my limited knowledge. Mycotech's vision is to Grow Sustainable Material for Better Life". And our mission is "to provide high performance and sustainable material through biotechnology for the global market by empowering local communities".
SAD : So sustainability is indeed part of Mycotech's vision and mission statement. That sounds cool". How did it progress over time, and what kind of activities is Mycotech doing now? Also, what products and technologies do you market and develop?
L : For now, our main production facility is located at Cisarua, Kabupaten Bandung Barat. During this time of the pandemic, our main activities are currently planning and developing the strategies and systems to support the upscaling of our production processes. Thus we can still work from home and limit the staff who work from the office (for physical distancing sake). The products that are being developed are Biobo, a composite material, and Mylea, a leather-like material made from that mycelium. I am not sure if I can describe it vividly, so if you are interested to see how it looks, you can check it on our website (mycl.bio). You can also watch the coverage video on BBC, which explains how these materials are produced at https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p080hmp8/explore-mycotech-the-sustainable-leather-experts.
SAD : I'm honestly very excited about this startup because we rarely hear a startup initiated by the young people in Indonesia, especially a biotech-based one. From my limited knowledge about a startup, I believe that all of you now work in a bit different way than a fully-established company. Can you tell a bit about how the people working in Mycotech are, and what kind of expertise they have?
L : Yes, I found it really fascinating that I becoming friends with a lot of awesome peoples in my company. Like most of startups, I think we could only have a small team because of the budget constraint. But every people have their own expertise and somehow could handle one department in a small group with 1-3 people. And luckily, because we are still small in size, we can easily collaborate with friends in different departments and learn from each other. For example, even though I am in Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) department, but I could collaborate with other teams in Research and Development (R&D), Legal, or Engineering departments.
SAD : And one of the experts is you! Could you share a bit about how you joined? Did you know any of the founders, or via a network, or?
L : No, although most of the founders are also ITB alumni, I've never known any of them before I joined Mycotech. I actually knew about the job opportunity from one of our friends, Sarlita. So yeah, it is a bit random actually. But it fascinated me that a local startup in Bandung produced a very interesting sustainable material full of potential! Thus I decided to apply as an Environmental Health Officer. And voilà, here I am, becoming a part of the team.
SAD : among all of these exciting things about Mycotech, can I ask what makes you interested to join? Do you have any special mission that you want to achieve by joining Mycotech?
L : I really want to know more about this sustainable material, actually. And as HSE executive, I am responsible for measuring not only the environmental impacts but also the social impacts of our products. And yeah, I think it still aligns with my educational background. Also, to find out whether this material is indeed sustainable or not, there are a lot of metrics we need to measure. To be able to define those metrics, I found that all of my educational background in the environmental study helps me a lot. Our future department goal is to do a LCA (life cycle analysis) for Mylea and Biobo, but we are still working on the preparation.
SAD : And how do you find it so far? Is it challenging to work in a startup with such an ambitious and out-of-the-box goal?
L : When we got hired, we have to start everything from scratch. No data, no systems. So you are the one who should collect and develop those systems. The most challenging part for me was when I had to collect the data to measure the Green House Gasses emission. I had to measure it as accurately as possible. It included how we meticulously collected the data on how our staffs travel from their homes to the office and vice versa. This data collection is really time-consuming. hahaha. But at the end, all of my hard work paid off when we could apply for B-corps certification. And last year, Mycotech eventually got that B-Corps certification.
SAD : And what is B-corps certification, Lini?
L : B-corps certification is an international certification granted for businesses that meet the standards for social and environmental performance. So this is like one of a milestone for the HSE department toward achieving LCA and other environmental standards such as ISO 14000.
SAD : Wow that sounds a really cool achievement, congratulations! It feels impossible to talk about innovation without talking about intellectual property. In terms of intellectual property, how does Mycotech protect its innovations/ technologies/ products?
L : Mycotech is currently trying to protect its intellectual property by filling patents. And for now we are waiting for our patents publication phase.
SAD : And so, what's next? How do you see yourself in the future and of course, with Mycotech?
L : Well, for Mycotech, the goal of HSE department is to get an LCA and to measure the societal and environmental impacts of Mycotech. While for me, one of my short-term personal goals is to get a PhD in Environmental Technology. I really want to continue my internship research about blue battery as sustainable energy storage. Apart from that, I am still dreaming of creating my own comic series about environmental, which would have environmental-related stuff and issues in it. I hope it will draw people's interest to know more about the ongoing environmental problems on this earth, and also about what Environmental Engineers actually do to find the solutions. I hope in this media format, people will get more interested in the environment and sustainability issues.
SAD : Wow, we really like the idea, Lini. It's, of course, fantastic to meet another like-minded person. I think we need to follow up on the comic and creating awareness about the environment and sustainability issues! Let's talk about this after the recording. lol. Lastly, what is your personal advice or message on sustainability for our listeners?
L : When we are talking about sustainability, there are 3 pillars in sustainability that we need to remember: environment, social, and economy. I know it sounds complicated, but actually, you can start by doing small and simple things, such as bring your own water Tumbler to reduce the generation of solid waste. You can also separate your biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste from your kitchen and try to compost the organic one as fertilizer for your plants.
SAD : Thanks again, Lini, for your time. It was such a pleasure talking with you. Wish you all the best for your future, and we are looking forward to hearing more cool stuff about you and your work.
S.A.D Team
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