Palm oil waste, which has long been considered worthless residue, is now a source of sustainable innovation. Three students from the Department of Physics at IPB University—Annisa Nur Azahra, Pristy Tasya Nabila, and Salsabilla Permata Bayah—have successfully developed TrunkTone, a sound-absorbing material made from oil palm trunks and empty fruit bunches (OPT and EFB).

This work won first place in the 2025 International Oil Palm Trunk Product Design Competition, held at the IPB International Convention Centre on 2 August 2025. In addition, the team was also awarded the title of Best Presentation for their innovative and applicable ideas.

Under the guidance of Dr. Yessie Widya Sari, TrunkTone was deemed to have a high level of originality, be ready for commercial production, and offer a new approach to biomaterial utilisation. Faristama Aryasa, CEO of Katalis.co, described TrunkTone as ‘an original, market-ready, and disruptive product.’ Meanwhile, Prof. Agung Nugroho from Lambung Mangkurat University highlighted the precision of the design, which comprehensively considers the physical characteristics of OPT and EFB.

The competition was participated in by 39 teams from various universities around the world, as part of the SustainPalm initiative—an Indonesian-Dutch consortium that aims to encourage the transformation of the palm oil industry towards a more circular and environmentally friendly system. This consortium involves renowned institutions such as Wageningen University & Research, Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences, IPB University, and Lambung Mangkurat University.

Support also came from the government. Lila Bahktiar, Director of Forestry and Plantation Industries at the Ministry of Industry, stated that TrunkTone is concrete proof that palm oil waste can be processed into high-value products with the potential for commercialisation in the near future.

Technically, the TrunkTone prototype has undergone acoustic performance testing and has been shown to reduce sound transmission by up to 13 dB, with an attenuation coefficient of 0.8—a figure that meets national standards for sound-absorbing materials.

Not stopping there, two other IPB students, Shakila Agustin and Abimanyu Pratama, also made achievements with their Palmlight innovation, a palm trunk-based bedside lamp, which successfully reached the final round of the competition.

This series of achievements reinforces the capacity of IPB University students to turn environmental challenges into innovative solutions that are useful and globally competitive.