(From left) MBPP Urban Services Department director Mubarak Junus, Rainbow Paradise Beach Resort general manager Calvin Koay, Mohd Rashid, Oon and other officials placing used plastic bottles at the hotel’s designated recycle area.
MORE than 100 agents in Penang are expected to apply for recyclable items collection licences once the Segregation at Source Bylaw and Licensing of Recyclers Bylaw are gazetted on June 1.
The state’s Solid Waste Management Unit chief Oon Lai Kuan said the drafts of the bylaws have been submitted to the state legal adviser Datuk Aliza Sulaiman.
“At the moment, there is no law to compel people to recycle, therefore the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) want to implement both the bylaws.
“The first one is to compelpeople to recycle and second one for recycling agents to have the licences. This way, both councils can track the amount of recycling collections and rate of recycling efforts carried out.
“We will give people some time to get used to the bylaws, but once gazetted, action will be taken against those who fail to abide by them,” he said at the launch of the pilot project for waste segregation at source for the hotel category at the Rainbow Paradise Beach Resort in Tanjung Bungah recently.
Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon said that so far, three pilot projects for waste segregation at source had been implemented.
“The state government launched this fourth pilot project for the hotel category and hopes to make waste segregation a routine.
“Other pilot projects will alsobe implemented in other parts of Penang.
“We will cover all the sevencategories of villages, high-rise buildings, housing project for the poor, housing estates, factories, shopping malls and food outlets/hotels by March.
“The pilot project will be closely monitored and any weaknesses identified will be corrected,” he said.
Mohd Rashid also said the MBPP had allocated RM95.64mil for waste management and cleaning of public areas.
During the launching ceremony, the hotel’s general liaison officer Zainal Basiron said that the hotel collected about 2,000kg of recyclable items each month, which are sold for more than RM800.
State committee chairman for Women, Family, Social Welfare, Housing and Local Government Datuk Rusnah Kassim (in pink) and Ipoh City Watch president Prof Dr Richard Ng (on her left) spreading the cleanliness message at Ladies Lane. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Jerry Francis, February 29, 2016.
In conjunction with the Ipoh City Council's monthly car free day yesterday morning along Jalan Raja DiHilir, members of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Ipoh City Watch (ICW) promoted its healthy living lifestyle at the Old Town sector of the city.
Led by president Prof Dr Richard Ng, members of the group gathered at the Birch Memorial Clock Tower at 7am and gradually walked 2km over to Ipoh City Hotel, Jalan Dass, passing through the popular Old Town Heritage trail and Memory Lane Sunday market.
The "Heritage Trail Walk" was organised in conjunction with Ipoh Car Free day to promote healthy living, recycling and reduction in carbon emissions.
State committee chairman for Women, Family, Social Welfare, Housing and Local Government Datuk Rusnah Kassim thanked Ng for the positive message promoted by the ICW.
“The walk by ICW will help to inculcate a cleanliness habit in the city,” said Rusmah.
“There is only so much that the state government can do. However, with help from NGOs like ICW, Ipoh will regain its history of being the cleanest and most livable city in the country.”
Those taking part in the walk carried posters reminding residents to help make Ipoh the most livable city in Malaysia and to practice the 3R concept of recycle, reuse and reduce waste.
“The goal of walking through the Heritage Trail was to remind traders it is a tourist area and every effort should be taken to keep it clean and tidy at all times” said Ng.
The members repeated the same message when they stopped at Ladies Lane in front of a hotel and held a signature campaign encouraging customers to embrace the 3Rs and help keep Ipoh clean.
Royal Malaysian Air Force technician Jusrini Aizan, who signed the banner, said the awareness campaign was a positive effort.
“This action to have a clean Ipoh should apply to the whole country. If everyone did their part everywhere would be clean” said Jusrini. – February 29, 2016.
Datuk Samsudin Abu Hassan with some of the members of the co-operative. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Jerry Francis, February 18, 2016.
Ipoh City Watch (ICW), a group with the goal of making Ipoh the most liveable city in Malaysia, has launched a co-operative to recycle waste material.
Koperasi Alam Hijau Perak Berhad was launched by the Exco for Consumer Affairs, Entrepreneur Development, Cooperatives, NGOs and Civil Societies Datuk Samsudin Abu Hassan last weekend.
Samsuddin announced the state was putting RM20,000 into the co-operative, saying it was a positive step benefitting the state, while the Perak Suruhanjaya Koperasi Malaysia similarly announced a grant of RM10,000.
Samsudin said that Perak had a problem with its waste material because it was all being thrown away.
“Ipoh alone generates close to 1 million tonnes of waste each day, and it is all being thrown away,” he said.
“This waste, if recycled, composted and pelletised, will be a positive development because there is a demand for recycled material in industry, for example in the furniture industry.”
Samsudin added the composting of recycled waste was being carried out in other states.
“Having a similar program for Perak would save recycle entrepreneurs on their transport costs and create employment at the same time”.
ICW chairman Dr Richard Ng said the co-operative would provide recycling services throughout the state.
“Our function is to spur economic growth through social entrepreneurship involving the local communities. Hopefully this will lead to reducing the number of illegal dumps.
“Our other activities are to educate the public about the importance of recycling and promoting good environment practices and in time to market recycled products.”
In the past 12 months, ICW has launched a community recycling 3R programme initially in Jelapang Tambahan 2 and subsequently Buntong and Lim Garden. – February 18, 2016.
State Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Jalaluddin Alias demonstrates how to use the recycling cage at the Senawang flats today.
A total of 129 recycling cages will be placed at flats in Negri Sembilan to enable effective waste sepration at source.
State Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Jalaluddin Alias said previously, the authorities focused on landed property and it was time flat residents were provided with the facility,
“Landed property occupants can separate and hang the recyclable items in plastic bags near the bins but residents in flats do not have the facilities to do this,” he told reporters after placing the cages at the Senawang flats.
He said the cage had three sections for paper, plastic and other recyclable items.
State Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp) director Zainal Fitri Ahmad said residents should separate and place the items in plastic bags before placing them in the correct section in the cage.
“This is to make the collection process easier and less messy,” he said.
He said collection would be once a week.
Meanwhile, Zainal said 3,610 friendly reminders had been issued to those not separating waste at source in the state.
“We have inspected 76,080 premises out of 218,947 premises in the state,” he said.
He said flats would also be inspected to ensure the cages were used.
As of December, 52,324kg of recyclable items have been collected in the state.
“Iron, aluminium and glass weighed in highest at 17,078kg,” he said.
He said effectively managing waste would save energy.
“Recycling one glass bottle is equivalent to saving four hours of the energy of a 100watt menthol lightbulb,” he said. – December 17, 2015.
Business students from the Business and Marketing programme at Sunway College Ipoh took part in a competition by the National Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Malaysia (NAWEM) to come up with a business idea that would improve their local community in Ipoh.
The Sunway College Ipoh team QUATRRO came up with a prototype in the form of a “Recycling Vending Machine”, named FAST (Funding As Social Trending), a non-profit social enterprise project.
This entry was selected as the recipient of NAWEM’s award. The competition was held for tertiary students in conjunction with The National Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Malaysia conference on Saturday, October 3 at the Eastin Hotel, Penang. The award consisted of a cash prize of RM500 and a certificate.
The competition to turn great ideas into great business invited ‘early-stage’ idea entries that were not generating revenue or receiving financing of any form and to complete a “One-Page Business Pitch.” The pitch was to describe the business formation based on problem solving, proposed solution, the identified target market, key competitors, sales channels, marketing activities, revenue, expenses, milestones, team and key roles and partners and resources.
The FAST recycling vending machine features a trendy vending machine, to showcase recycling as a fun and creative activity rather than a chore. “We believe in giving this authentic choice to young people as a fresh start towards building a better community. Our area of business will be to collect and recycle plastic bottles and aluminium cans, and this idea was developed after conducting demographic analysis in Ipoh. The findings include the fact that landfills are filling up. The Bercham landfill consists mainly of plastic bottles and aluminium cans which can be recycled instead of dumped.”
“We believe that FAST will meet the critical need of the local municipality by providing a feasible and cost effective alternative to landfilling the waste, as we are also seeing municipalities as our potential stakeholder.
We are in the process to have our recycling vending machine in the Sunway commercial area, which is maintained by one of our partners, Amalexcia Enterprise, (Vending machine Manufacturers). Other than that, Malaysian Nature Society and also a few schools and colleges have expressed their interest in supporting our project.
Our primary objective is to create behaviour and change the mindset of young people by building a positive feeling about recycling. We aim to embrace recycling as a very cool and trendy concept and provide municipalities with an alternative waste disposal system. The Quattro business model presents an opportunity to recycle landfill-bound waste, save the landfill space, and create creative shared value partnership with the community.
We have collaborated with Malaysian Nature Society (Perak) and are looking forward to creating SEO-optimised website to provide incentive to our customers in future, to encourage their participation, by establishing shared value partnership with corporations, for example, AEON Kinta City, who has already embraced the 3R’s programme as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. We are looking at the possibilities of partnering with Starbucks and Lost World of Tambun. We are planning to advertise in Ipoh Echo, a community newspaper in publishing news and articles related to environmental issues.
We hope to reduce pollution by two per cent and set a new benchmark for recycling within the first two to five years. Last but not least, our product is a value added, recycling choice that appeals to the growing environmental conscientiousness among consumers to promise a better future for everyone.” said the Quattro team.
THE concept of reducing, reusing and recycling has been drummed into us since childhood by television jingles and schoolteachers.
But for the most part, the cause and effects of indiscriminate waste dumping seems largely unheeded in our day-to-day practices, leading to a rise in dengue cases and pests.
The critical situation has led to the Government authorising a mandatory “separation at source” plan under the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleanliness Corporation (SWCorp) for households to manage their waste disposal.
Implemented nationwide on Sept 1, except in Selangor, Penang, Terengganu and Kelantan, this raises the question of what materials are recyclable.
Statistics provided by Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA) show that in Malaysia, approximately 90% of waste were going to landfills while recycling rate is less than 10%.
Compared to Singapore’s 1% landfill, 51% incineration and a total solid waste (excluding construction waste) recycling rate of 48%.
Many other Asian countries, including Taiwan and Hong Kong, have recycling rates that either touch or far exceed the 50% mark.
Plastics and Polystyrene
Plastics and polystyrene have for many years been a contentious subject due in part to its use of natural resources such as oil and natural gas moulded through a chemical bonding process called polymerisation.
Approximately 4% of the world’s crude oil is used to manufacture plastic products in comparison to 45% for transportation and 42% in the production of heat, electricity and energy.
Though we know traditional materials such as paper, glass and plastics can be recycled, a common misconception is to overlook the recyclable properties of polystyrene as well as to view plastics as hazardous waste.
However, little is known of the industry as a whole and its importance in the field of medicine and safety through hygiene.
Food waste constitutes 50% of domestic waste in Malaysia, while plastic packaging constitutes less than 4% of all municipal solid waste by weight.
Debunking myths
Malaysian Plastics Forum education and awareness chairman Ahmad Khairuddin Sha’aban said plastics were also less harmful in landfills because they stayed inert, a form of carbon capture that did not contribute to toxic emissions.
“Degradation when exposed to oxygen emits the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2), while degradation in the absence of oxygen emits methane gas, 22 times more harmful than CO2.
“There has been evidence of mummified papers that have not degraded because it’s been buried in the landfill for years.
“Single-use plastic is not just for convenience but also an issue of health, safety and hygiene for consumable items, and especially in the medical field such as blood bags.
“Almost all conventional plastics are recyclable and can be recycled again and again but those that are not, have an energy value that can be recovered through waste-to-energy incineration,” Ahmad explained.
He said the recycling industry was a profitable one, though low-key in Malaysia.
He cited as example, plastics had a high calorific value, which meant it was a good fuel source.
According to MPMA, a pound of plastic has the ability to produce twice the amount of energy than some coals, and almost as much energy as fuel oil.
Modern energy recovery facilities cleanly burn the non-recyclable plastics in special combustion chambers.
While contemporary air pollution control devices remove potentially harmful particulates and gases from incinerator emissions, with energy from the heat used to generate steam or electricity.
As plastic products are made up of different raw materials known as resins, most products have differing melting points.
A seven coding system (the triangular recycle symbol with numbers at its centre) is used to assist recycling centres in the segregation of plastics by identifying the types of resins used and whether or not the plastics are recyclable.
MPMA Environment, Safety and Health executive Sri Umeswaran Shekar posited three important elements in waste management that included logistics providing proper bins in strategic locations, frequent and correct collection of waste, as well as enforcement.
“The collection method must be overseen because people are willing to separate, but collectors end up dumping the separated items into one garbage bag.
“Enforcement among households is also needed to a certain extent because we are still in the transitional period of learning how to properly segregate waste.
“Right now SWCorp has not mentioned households segregating plastics according to coding, but this is happening in countries with more advanced recycling efforts such as Japan because the people there are more aware of it.
“But as long as we as consumers at least start with separating organic waste from recyclable materials such as plastic and polystyrene, it’s an achievement.
There is also a need to emphasise the importance of separating organic waste and rinsing out recyclable items because in the case of plastics and polystyrene, contaminated materials becomes less valuable because of its properties at a molecular level could become weaker.
“Recycling has an economic value and should be seen as such, with grants or loans for those in the waste industry because they are not able to obtain it as the materials are not end products,” said Sri Umeswaran, underlining a holistic approach.
Ahmad said that rather than burdening the public, brand owners should also be roped in as part of the value chain because of the huge role they play in the collection system of their products for recycling.
“It is a concerted effort to inculcate caring for the environment,” he said.
Running campaigns and school programmes since 1997, MPMA made several efforts advocating the recycling with its most recent being the “Don’t be a Litterbug” litter-free Ramadan campaign to educate traders on managing waste.
The association is now collaborating with local authorities and SWCorp for the “separation at source” initiative.
Running recycling centres
IPC Shopping Centre has been diligently carrying out its own recycling efforts since June 2009, involving all 180 of its tenants in the process and encouraging visitors to do the same through the Recycling and Buy-Back Centre.
The centre acts as a collection and waste segregation point, offering buy-back prices at a minimum of 1kg for six commonly found household and retail business recyclable items.
These include cardboards, newspapers, magazines, plastic, aluminium as well as metal, and at the same time providing proper handling in the disposal of used batteries, light bulbs and compact fluorescent lights.
The top three buy-back items sent in by the public are magazines, with an average monthly volume of 1,800kg, newspapers (1,500kg) and plastics (250kg).
Centre marketing manager Karyn Lim said everything began with IPC’s thought on how to better incorporate sustainable operations at the mall in managing the waste generated by the many tenants.
“The buy-back centre operates at its own cost with any revenue received, reinvested into the centre to improve our recycling services and other sustainability efforts.
“We also use it for handling fees of certified specialist subcontractors who know how to recycle specific materials using bulb-eater machine, which crushes the bulbs, coated with neutralising chemicals then sealed in cement.
“These are then passed over to Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd to be placed in a certified landfill,” she said.
Centre manager Joakim Hogsander revealed that tenants generated 76 tonnes of wet or organic waste and 38 tonnes dry waste monthly.
“There is a machine to segregate metal and chemical waste but our people have to manually separate paper, plastic and glass.
“We are appealing to the tenants’ green side and their economic sensibility so we have to show people the benefits.
“I believe that it’s not just in Malaysia now, but the world has to see how we can start to recycle everything, and it is the producers and consumers who decide that,” he said.
With 176 bright yellow collection bins scattered around the Klang Valley, Community Recycle for Charity (CRC) compiles then separates anywhere from 100 to 150 tonnes of recyclables a month.
As volunteers scour cities and towns daily to collect from at least 30 to 40 bins, their job is but halfway done.
The centre separates waste according to the traditional paper, plastic and glass, as well as electronic items.
The electronics are sent to specialists to disassemble for their profitable parts, with any revenue received from the specialists used to benefit homes for the underprivileged.
CRC founder Datuk Joe Chong, 31, started the organisation in April 2009 with a primary focus on educating the public about recycling, besides charity work.
“About 15% of the items we collect are bulk waste, with a disposal rate of about 30% of waste that cannot be reused.
“Items that can be reused such as furniture are given to charity homes upon request but a lot of things collected are not reusable.
“We are working with local authorities for a special dumpsite to properly dispose of unsalvageable rubbish.
“I think the trouble is that a lot of people have the heart to donate, but don’t know what items are recyclable or what charities need and can use.
“About 60 to 70 tonnes of the recyclables we collect are clothes, way too much for welfare homes to use so we can only give these away to be reused as cloth for cleaning,” Chong noted.
To-date, CRC has assisted approximately 100 or more homes in this way on a rotational basis.
“We also have a pick-up service for bulk items that still work, so they can be sent to homes in need,” he said.
To Chong, goodwill is paramount, believing in the generosity of people and cultivating a willing nature rather than enforcement in the separation of waste.
He also urged the Government to involve NGOs more in their efforts to instill greater practice of recycling.
But an issue that constantly crops up – one that all three organisations agree upon – is the need for education in terms of waste segregation for our society to evolve a First World mindset.
While there are many campaigns highlighting dengue, pest problem and littering in cities, it takes individuals moving in a conscientious direction, one little step at a time, for a successful outcome.
Buntong and Lim Garden residents weighing the plastic bottles at the collection centre.
THE Community Recycling Projects at Lim Garden and Buntong are now up and running.
Launched by Perak Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Rusnah Kassim recently, the two projects saw about 300 residents from each area taking part in waste separation.
Two recycling bins have already been placed – at the playground in Taman Kurin, Buntong and the field behind the Rukun Tetangga office in Lim Garden.
Collection for the recyclables would be done the second and fourth Sundays of the month in the evening.
The recycling project in Buntong was a collaboration between Ipoh City Watch (ICW), Perak Solid Waste Management and Public Cleanliness Corporation (SWCorp) and Komuniti 1Malaysia Buntong (K1MB).
The project in Lim Garden was organised by ICW, SWCorp and the Lim Garden Rukun Tetangga as well as its Residents Association pro-tem committee.
People have already started using the recycling bin at Taman Kurin, Buntong.
The projects were started following the success of the inaugural project at Kampung Jelapang Tambahan, which was launched in April.
Its main objective was to reduce waste from going into the landfill by promoting a culture of recycling amongst the community.
K1MB secretary M Ramachandran said they were eager to start the project to keep Buntong clean.
“I’ve seen the results at Jelapang and I hope we can do the same for Buntong.
“People should start learning to separate their garbage because the waste separation law will be implemented sooner or later,” he said.
Ramachandran said it would take some time for the community to adopt the waste separation process but he felt that it was achievable.
“When people start doing it and it is beneficial to the community, others will follow.
“With more awareness, people will separate their waste on their own,” he said.
Lim Garden Residents Association pro-tem committee adviser Victor Chew said they have distributed pamphlets to the residents, informing them of the recycling project.
“About 200 to 300 households are aware.
“Proceeds from the sale of the recyclable waste will go to the Rukun Tetangga and Residents Association to conduct local activities,” he said.
Buntong and Lim Garden residents learning how to make compost from household food waste.
THE Solid Waste Management and Public Cleanliness Act 2007 in Perak could be implemented this year.
Perak Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Rusnah Kassim said she has set up a meeting with the Housing and Local Government Minister to discuss the agreement within the next few weeks and hoped to have it signed “soon”.
Rusnah said there were still some terms that needed to be sorted out before the agreement is signed.
“We may go with privatisation.
“However, we want to ensure that the agreement between the Federal and state would not burden the people or the local council workers,” she said after the launch of the Community Recycling Projects for Lim Garden and Buntong at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Buntong last Saturday.
Rusnah said the state, Solid Waste Management and Public Cleanliness Corporation (SWCorp), solid waste management company Environment Idaman Sdn Bhd (E-Idaman) and the Federal Government have already met and discussed the terms of the agreement.
Rusnah (second from left) launching the Community Recycling Project for Buntong and Lim Garden. With her are SWCorp Perak director Fatimah Ahmad (left) and Dr Ng (second from right).
“We felt that 21 years is too long for the agreement.
“We want to review the solid waste management company’s performance every three years,” she said.
Rusnah added that she has checked out E-Idaman’s performance in Kedah.
“The feedback was positive.
“The cleanliness level has improved considerably,” she said, adding that the company has been approved by the Federal Government to service states in the northern region including Perak, Perlis, Kedah and Penang.
Ipoh City Watch president Prof Dr Richard Ng said it was of utmost importance that the state privatises solid waste management.
Dr Ng said the local council lacked the expertise in garbage collection.
The residents signing the recycling campaign banner.
“The Ipoh City Council does not have enough garbage trucks.
“Contracted garbage collectors will not pick up garden waste, making it an ongoing issue,” he said.
“People need to fork out their own money to have the garden waste collected when complaints are made to the city council and this is unfair as people are already paying taxes,” he added.
Dr Ng said the city council did not have enough enforcement officers to go around to deal with those who dispose of garbage indiscriminately.
“The state needs to seriously consider privatisation.
“Once the issue with garbage, drainage and grass is solved, the city council can focus more on greening and developing the city,” he said.
“And, the people will not blame the state government for these issues anymore,” he added.
Rusnah lauded the community recycling project and said people should start learning about garbage separation.
She also said that Pasir Pinji and Manjoi could be the next areas to take on the project.
“I’ve spoken to the Pasir Pinji assemblyman about the recycling project.
“Pasir Pinji is also part of Ipoh and I think the general cleanliness of the area is also important,” she said.
The appointment of former President of Manjung Municipal Council, Dato’ Zamri Man, as the new mayor of Ipoh on July 1 was well received by Ipohites.
As President of Ipoh City Watch (ICW), I am delighted to note that he is bringing with him his experiences from Manjung, the third best-managed local council in Malaysia, to Ipoh.
We are more delighted when he said his vision is to make Ipoh the most liveable city in Malaysia through an inclusive administrative system. That is exactly what we are striving for at ICW.
When asked by reporters on his first day of work, Dato’ Zamri has made known his intention of working with NGOs and civil society groups to solve the various issues plaguing Ipoh. He hoped to improve the city in a year’s time, in terms of cleanliness and other criteria set under the state government's Amanjaya policy.
Just three weeks ago The Economist reported the results of a liveability survey on 140 cities in the world. Melbourne has once again emerged as the most liveable city in the world for the fifth consecutive time based on a set of 30 criteria which include safety, healthcare, educational resources, environment and infrastructure. Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Baru are ranked at the bottom half of the list with Tripoli, Lagos, Port Moresby, Dhaka and Damascus listed as the five least liveable cities.
Comparing Ipoh with Melbourne is unfair, as we are at a different end of the continuum. However, it is not a sin to make Ipoh the most liveable city in Malaysia. Two pertinent issues that affect Ipohites are economy and safety, which are part of the liveability survey variables. In terms of safety and security, ICW is working closely with the Police and other NGOs to provide feedback and ways to improve the city’s security.
Economy will improve when we have a good business-and-industry-driven environment coupled with good policies that can attract investors. We need good infrastructure such as a good transportation system. Ipoh’s reasonably cheap and good food is already a plus point. However, the rise in dengue cases will be a pull-down factor. We too hope this is not the reason why it is so difficult to get dengue statistics on cases affecting each housing area within Ipoh. But what we do know is that the number of dengue cases is correlated to the number of illegal dumpsites, clogged drains, overgrown grass and abandoned houses.
Maybe comparing Ipoh with Los Banos and Tuguegarao, two small cities in Philippines, will be fairer. Both are slightly smaller than Taiping. What fascinated me during my recent visit there was the level of cleanliness. They are definitely very clean. I could not find one single illegal dumpsite for which Ipoh is famous.
I had the opportunity to speak to the head of environment of Los Banos’s Local Council and we shared our experience in managing solid waste. To start off, their mayor is elected by the people and garbage is one of the issues raised by Filipinos. Los Banos has 14 ‘barangays’ or gardens. They started garbage separation and recycling about 10 years ago. When it was first launched in 2005 they received strong objection and rejection from the people. But today, keeping their environment clean is part of their culture.
The new elected Mayor Perez of Los Banos has come out with a 10-year Strategic Action Plan (2013-2023) which requires Los Banos Municipal to divert 50 per cent of the biodegradable waste and recyclables from going to the sanitary landfill in 2016.
In both cities, the people are required to bring out only biodegradable waste, which includes organic waste, from Monday to Friday for collection between 8pm and 9pm. The non-biodegradable must be taken out and sent to a designated collection centre only on every Saturday between 8pm and 9pm. Those found placing garbage outside their residence will be penalised by paying a 50 pesos (RM4.50) fine and their garbage will not be collected.
The organic waste collected are then sent for composting where they are put into a large shredding machine and then mixed with soil and night crawlers to turn into organic fertiliser within 10 days. This fertiliser is then used for their landscape plants while some are given free to farmers.
I also found recycling bins placed in strategic locations in the city of Tuguegarao where residents can place plastic bottles and cans, which we do not have in Ipoh. The flower pots in town are painted with creative words such as “Save the Earth. We have nowhere to Go”, “Cleanliness starts within yourself”, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”, and “Be Clean in Thoughts, Words and Deeds”.
ICW has helped implement the Community Recycling Programmes involving 250 households in Jelapang Tambahan in collaboration with Perak SWCorp and Rukun Tetangga Jelapang. The project launched in April 2015 has produced positive results when more than 4 tonnes of garbage are saved from going to the landfill or illegal dumpsites with a recycling rate of 17 per cent, higher than the national average of 10 per cent.
The success has resulted in two more recycling programmes involving Buntong and Lim Garden residents. It will be launched on Saturday, September 19 at the Indian Recreational Club padang at 3.30pm by Dato’ Hajah Rusnah Kassim, Executive Councillor for Women’s Development, Family, Welfare, Caring Society, Housing and Local Government. All Ipohites are cordially invited to the function and learn about garbage separation and composting.
Ipoh City Watch (ICW) successfully launched the Buntong and Lim Garden Community Recycling Project in collaboration with the Perak Solid Waste Management and Public Cleanliness Corp (SWCorp).
The event was held at the Sri Maha Mariamman Hall, Buntong on Saturday, September 19 and was officiated by Dato’ Rosnah Kassim, the Executive Councillor for Women and Family Development, Social Welfare and Housing and Local Government. Present at the ceremony were Hajah Fatimah Ahmad, Perak SWCorp Director, Ipoh City Councillor M. Veeran, who represented the mayor and ICW President, Dr Richard Ng.
The objective of the project was to educate residents of Lim Garden and Buntong on the importance of garbage separation and recycling in order to help keep the environment clean.
Ipoh City Watch’s other initiative to reduce solid waste is by composting. A demonstration on composting was shown during the launch.The process is to convert organic wastes such as food to organic fertiliser.
According to Dr Richard Ng, the goal of community recycling is to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills by promoting the culture of recycling in the community.
“Community recycling is the best option for the public. The programme is not difficult to put to practice and is best conducted via active engagement with the end-users,” said Rusnah in her opening remarks.
Some 150 residents from both housing estates attended the launching ceremony.
SWCorp has established garbage collection points in Lim Garden and Buntong. It is a good start for residents to do their part in garbage separation which will become mandatory in the country soon.
Ipoh City Watch, Rukun Tetangga Jelapang and the Perak Solid Waste Management and Public Cleanliness Corporation (SWCorp), jointly organised a composting cum recycling programme recently at Jelapang Tambahan, Ipoh.
The programme was aimed at teaching residents, ways to turn organic waste into fertiliser and to salvage recyclables from garbage. The ultimate aim is to create a caring society that keeps the environment clean through garbage separation and recycling.
The programme was in line with ICW’s vision of making Ipoh the most liveable city in Malaysia. President of ICW, Professor Dr Richard Ng, together with its members, used the three “E” approach namely, Engage, Explain and Educate to help turn Ipoh City into a clean city once more.
The home-waste composting project was to encourage residents to convert their leftover food, either during preparation or after eating, into compost that can be used as fertiliser for their gardens. Besides composting residents were also taught to separate their garbage so they can be reused.
The objective, according to Victor Chew, Secretary of ICW, was to encourage residents to keep their environment clean and safe.
“Members are recruited from the local community and would be given training to conduct activities related to the issue,” said Victor.
The recycling programme in Jelapang Tambahan involved 250 houses. It had successfully recovered 1670.8kg of recyclables, which included plastic (236kg), metal (782.8kg) and paper (652kg). A total of 1670.8kg of solid waste was salvaged from the village dumpsite.
