Achieving Cleaner Production in SMEs Batik toward Innovation in Production Process Aries Susanty 1 , Diana Puspitasari 1 , Dyah Ika Rinawati 1 , Tenny Monika 1 1 Department of Industrial Engineering, Diponegoro University, Prof. Soedarto Street, Tembalang, Semarang, ariessusanty@yahoo.com Abstract This study aims to analysis and identify some options of innovation in the process of making batik in order to implement the concept of cleaner production by presenting the result –type of research of one Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs) Batik which is located in the Pekalongan. Based on the types and the amount of waste generated at each stage, this study proposes a set of alternative of innovation for the implementation of cleaner production in the process of making batik, namely recycle the collected wet wax from “pelorodan” process, reuse the wastewater from the dyeing process, reuse the droplets of wax from the process stamping, reuse the water from “pelorodan” process as long as 3 days before disposal, reuse the water from washing and flushing process as long as 2 days before disposal, and reduce the use of synthetic dyes with natural dyes. Unless the last alternative, all alternatives of innovation which were proposed in this study could give positive net benefit to the enterprise. Keywords Cleaner production, innovation, recycle, reuse, reduction, SMEs Batik . 1 Introduction The batik industry constitutes about one of 14 classified creative industries in Indonesia featuring world famous specific Indonesian nation [Gunaryo, et al. 2008]. Batik has been both an art and craft for centuries and is part of an ancient tradition. The word batik is derived from the Javanese word ‘Amba’, means ‘to write’, the suffix ‘titik’ means little dot or to make dots. In a manuscript on a lontar leaf originating from around 1520 AD which was found in Galuh, Southern Cirebon (West Java), it is written that batik also means ‘seratan’ which in Javanese means ‘writing’. As a matter of fact, batik is ‘wax writing’, a way of decorating cloth by covering a part of it with a coat of wax and then dyeing the cloth. It is a technique of covering the parts of fabric which will not receive the color. The waxed areas keep their original color and when the wax is removed the contrast between the dyed and undyed areas forms the pattern [TREDA, 2008]. Batik industries generate a large contribution to Indonesia’s economic development. However, batik industries also produce large amounts of waste cause of material-usage inefficiency in each phase of the production process (cutting, stamping or waxing, coloring process or “Colet”, dyeing and releasing wax). According to her research, Nurdalia [2006] found that the significant inefficiency is related to the usage of wax, dyestuff and water. The portion of wax and dyestuff cost dominate the total production cost of three companies that she researched. Therefore, it is suggested that the three companies prioritize an enhancement programs in using wax, dyestuff, and water. In the three companies that she researched, she found that un-reusable wax reached 60%, dyestuff losses from 0.07% a year until 54.58% a year. Water inefficiency approximately reached 80% a year. Besides inefficiency in usage a material, waste of batik industry also derived from waste water. The industries discharge their wastewater approximately 3 m 3 per day. Their activities have been causing pollution due to the dyes and other chemicals which are contained in the wastewater. This pollution threats people’s health in a long term. In addition to environmental damage and