JP/Prodita Sabarini In a factory in Cikupa, Tangerang, plastic resins are being blown into films of plastic, rolled, printed and chopped into plastic bags.

For years, people have started to realize the dangers durable plastics, made of hydrocarbons with more than 7 million connecting chains, pose to the environment. Sugianto Tandio, the president director of plastic bag producer Tirta Marta knows the issue well. “Plastic is so strong, microbes could only destroy it after 1,000 years,” he said.

As an heir of Tirta Marta, a plastic bag factory that has run since 1971, Sugianto realized that while he was producing a handy product that millions of Indonesian people used, he was also part of an environmental problem.

He then ventured into an unpredictable area: research and development. Beginning in 2000 as president director, he focused on developing an environmenta...