The global ranking of Universitas Indonesia (UI) has increased from 24 to 21 according to the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings 2024. UI has succeeded in improving its position in the world and remains the best in Asia even though the number of participants has increased from 1,183 to 1,477 universities. This ranking increase was conveyed directly by the Head of UI GreenMetric, Prof. Dr. Ir. Riri Fitri Sari, M.M., M.Sc., at the event “The 2024 UI GreenMetric World University Rankings Results and Awarding Ceremony” which took place at the University Council Auditorium, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday, December 12.
Prof. Riri said that the increase in participation shows the commitment of universities around the world to play a role in shaping a better future. “This year’s figures mark an important milestone in the UI GreenMetric journey. These figures not only underline the enthusiasm of the participating institutions, but also the strength of our vision for a sustainable future. Every institution that joins is a champion, which signifies their commitment to realizing an environmentally friendly campus,” she said.
UI was declared “The 21st Most Sustainable Universities” after going through an assessment of six aspects set by UI GreenMetric, namely Setting and Infrastructure, Energy and Climate Change, Waste, Water, Transportation, and Education and Research. From the assessment, UI obtained a total score of 9050 with the highest scores in Waste and Education and Research—each 1800 points—which contain several key indicators.
In the Waste aspect, the indicators set include campus waste recycling programs, organic waste processing, paper and plastic reduction programs on campus, inorganic waste processing, and handling of toxic waste. UI was declared superior in waste management in the campus area, both recycled waste and organic waste.
UI excels in this criterion because it has a waste processing policy that requires each faculty to build an independent Waste Processing Facility. Waste sorting is carried out by separating electronic waste which is categorized as hazardous and toxic waste. For organic waste, UI builds a processing unit that produces compost from food waste and dry leaves and wet leaves. In addition, each faculty is required to provide a drinking fountain or ready-to-drink drinking water to reduce the use of single-use plastic bottles.
Thanks to these efforts, UI has succeeded in outperforming RUDN University, National Pingtung University of Science & Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and University of Pécs, which were ranked 22nd to 25th in the world respectively. In this case, UI also outperforms all universities in Indonesia and Asia in terms of sustainability.
UI Rector, Prof. Dr. Ir. Heri Hermansyah, S.T., M.Eng., IPU, said that UI’s achievements in the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings 2024 are in line with UI’s initiative in presenting a sustainable campus. “UI focuses on efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with several initiatives, including sustainable waste management, the 3R program (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), utilization of Solar Power Plants (PLTS) and rainwater, and the use of electric vehicle-based transportation. These efforts are made to strengthen the role of universities in supporting environmental sustainability and achieving zero waste and zero emissions,” said Prof. Heri.
The UI GreenMetric World University Rankings 2024 was attended by 1,477 universities from 95 countries. Of all the ranking participants, the top 10 universities in order are Wageningen University, Netherlands; Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom; University of Groningen, Netherlands; University College Cork, Ireland; Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Brazil; Umwelt Campus Birkenfeld (Trier University of Applied Sciences), Germany; University of California, Davis, USA; University of Nottingham, United Kingdom; Università di Bologna, Italy; and University of Connecticut, USA.
