A milestone for Ipoh and the entire state of Perak was created last Saturday September 17 2016 with the launch of co-operative Koperasi Alam Hijau or KOHIJAU.
KOHIJAU’s role is to promote recycling for a sustainable environment and to further improve the livelihood of the people by maintaining a clean environment.
The co-operative was set up by NGO Ipoh City Watch as part of its motto ‘To Make Ipoh the most livable city in Malaysia’.
The launch of its office located at Sunway City, Tambun was officiated by Hulu Kinta Assemblyman Datuk Aminuddin Md Hanafiah , Ipoh City Councilor Mazlan Abdul Rahman (Zone 4 / Perpaduan / Ulu Kinta / Tambun) and ICW President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Richard Ng.
Ng who is also KOHIJAU Chairman said the co-operative had teamed up with iCycle Malaysia, a solutions provider of waste recycling system to enhance the recycling business.
The structure will see KOHIJAU providing the business network while iCycle Malaysia will provide the business system.
Under the iCycle system recyclable collectors and contributors will earn Recycling Points which can be exchanged with cash or products similar to the Bonus Link system.
Ng added that KOHIJAU has projected to sign up at least 10 corporate members, 20 schools and 100 individuals to be part of its KOHIJAU-iCycle project.
“Todate, KOHIJAU has appointed Winland Resources Sdn Bhd, the developer for Ipoh Loyal Apartment as its first corporate member.
Other members include Rukun Tetangga Jelapang, the Residents Association of Desa Tambun Indah and SMK Raja Chulan, Ipoh, Perak.
The public be it individuals, NGO or companies may apply to participate in this system where their contribution through recycling and garbage separation will earn them incentives in the form of recycling points. There is no entry fee at the moment.
iCycle Director Dr Tan Ching Seong explained that members will be provided with an account number.
Members will also be provided barcode stickers with their account numbers indicated.
“iCycle accepts all clean, dry and non food items. Place the items in a bag and paste a bar code label on the bag.
“We will collect the bag, sort the items and post your points for the items collected to your personal account which can be checked via internet” said Tan.
Ng anticipated that their members are expected to contribute 10,000kg of recyclables per month.
“With recycling points being given out as incentives in exchange for cash or products, this system can help create a sustainable recycling community”.
Ng added that with the current population of Perak at 2.4 million it is estimated that a total of 16,000,000kg of garbage will be generated each month.
“By 2020, if nothing is done, Perak will have a total of 768,000,000kg of garbage which will end up in the landfills, illegal dumpsites or ocean. As such we need to practice recycling to reduce the volume of rubbish going to the landfill”.
“The national recycling target is 20% by 2020. However to promote the practice of recycling KOHIJAU will work with Perak SW Corp, local councils and other government agencies such as Rukun Tetangga to help promote recycling.
“It is expected that through this collaboration it will help to increase the recycling rate among Perakians to at least 30% by 2020 with some community reaching as high a 60% once KOHIJAU introduces organic waste composting”.
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