Sustainability Activities
Held for the 4th consecutive year, the programme in 2019 was expanded to a statewide programme with final participation of 34 primary and secondary schools in Melaka.
A special seminar for teachers was designed to be a part of the programme this year to provide correct and scientific information about plastics, waste management and recycling to teachers. As teachers shape the mind of students and play an important role in motivating students and driving the programme in schools, MPMA believe engaging with teachers will be an effective way to drive participation and to sustain the programme in the long run. With the theme ‘Why Plastics?’, the seminar was attended by 219 teachers from 217 schools from Melaka.
In terms of the programme, students were to complete the ‘Zero Waste Challenge’ which comprised 3 challenges:
- Awareness talk
- #PullingOurWeight clean up
- Recyclables collection using the MyReturns application
Due to the success of the programme for 4 years, the School Environmental Challenge received the recognition as a case study of private sector’s involvement in education programmes at the National Convention on Parents, Community and Private Sectors Involvement organized by the Ministry of Education Malaysia on 26 November 2019. About 700 teachers and parents from all around the country attended the Convention.
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As a collaboration between KDEB Waste Management Sdn Bhd, Chevron Phillips Chemical Malaysia, Tzu-Chi Malaysia and MPMA, the programme aimed to raise awareness on marine litter and pollution to the century-old fishing village of Bagan Hailam, Selangor.
Held on 3 November 2019, a total of 2.5 tonnes of litter were cleared from a hot-spot area that was strewn with rubbish. The largely contaminated waste was then taken by KDEB to the Jeram sanitary landfill for disposal.
The clean up event is part of a longer-term effort to empower the residents of Bagan Hailam to address improper waste disposal, and raise awareness on marine litter and the importance of preventing pollution in the rivers and marine environment.
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The Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA) and Scientex Berhad led a massive month long cleanup of marine litter and trash pollution at Sungai Satu, Pulau Ketam, a small fishing village located off the coast near Port Klang.
The initiative was called the MPMA-SCIENTEX Sustainability Project in Pulau Ketam and focused on a designated area in the village. The result was a massive 9,860 kg of waste cleared, comprising:
- 800 kg of recyclable waste (100 kg glass and 700 kg plastics waste)
- 2,300 kg driftwood
- 1,200 kg small branches and twigs
- 5,560 kg of other general waste including old fishing gear
MPMA is also helping to build longer-term solutions for the residents, by installing more cage-bins to hold recyclable waste and making customised four-wheel trolleys to transport the collected waste to the island’s recycling center.
The MPMA-Scientex project was focused on a designated area in one of Pulau Ketam’s small water villages. What brought the Sungai Satu water village to MPMA’s attention was the cleanup efforts of Chua Hock Boon, a former fisherman turned air-con technician, after he was featured in a short film entitled “Mr Garbage”.
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The plastics industry recently demonstrated their commitment towards combating marine litter by cleaning up Monkey Beach in Penang. The cleanup programme, named #PullingOurWeight, held in conjunction with International Coastal Cleanup Day, involved the Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA), The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) and Thong Guan Industries Berhad.
The programme was sponsored by Dow and Thong Guan Industries Berhad, facilitated by MPMA and resulted in more than 700 kg of waste collected. The waste was made up of plastic bottles which was the most litter item collected, followed by aluminium and plastic food container.
In addition to littering, the lack of available trash bins and infrequent trash pickup all play a role in contributing to marine debris. That is why as part of the cleanup, 24 waste bins were donated and installed to prevent more waste from entering in the environment.
“This partnership is a great example of how our industry can come together to pull our weight in solving the marine debris issue,” said Bambang Candra, Asia Pacific Commercial Vice President, Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics. “Cleanups like this one are an important part of a bigger holistic approach to stop marine debris at the source to ensure we are positive environmental stewards.”
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More than 3,000 students are fighting plastic waste through acting, photography, spoken word and recycling competitions in Melaka as a part of the MPMA – Dow School Environment Challenge 2018.
The Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA) and The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) partnered together for the fifth time on the challenge which is designed to educate students on waste separation and recycling to help reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfills and ending up in the environment as litter.
The challenge, which kicked off in April, is composed of four challenges designed to educate and inspire students on the importance of recycling and sustainability. The challenges are:
- Recyclables Collection: Students collected recyclables (plastic, paper, aluminum, e-waste) and brought them to schools to be weighed and collected.
- Photography: Students submitted a photo that features the theme of “I Love Recycling”.
- Sketch Performance: Students create and perform a sketch with the theme “Litter Villain vs. Recycle Hero”.
- Choral Speaking Performance: Groups of students participate in a choral speaking competition themed around the Three R’s: “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”.
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This is the third consecutive year that the MPMA-DOW School Environmental Challenge is held with primary and secondary schools in Melaka. This competition-based programme was designed to educate students about waste management and to encourage creative thinking among students in usage of recyclable materials especially plastics recyclables. A total of 18 schools are participating in this on-going programme, taking part in four competitions; Recyclables Collection Competition, ‘I Love Recycling!’ Photography Competition, Sketch Competition, and Choral Speaking Competition. The final judging and closing ceremony is expected to take place in August 2018.
The difference between the programme this year as compared to the previous years was the addition of an Eco-Ranger Programme as a part of the School Environmental Challenge. Students from the 18 participating schools attended a 3-day-2-night Eco-Ranger camp at the Warisan National Service Camp in Masjid Tanah, Melaka from 13-15 May 2018. Throughout the camp, the students took part in 10 workshops on the different ways to manage different types of waste; from composting, woodcraft, and decorative crafts from plastics recyclables. Besides that, students also brainstormed and presented ideas on short-term and long-term environmental projects which they would like execute in their respective schools after the end of the camp. Schools are required to present to MPMA-DOW the results of their short-term projects in August 2018.
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