KUALA LUMPUR: Nestlé Malaysia Bhd, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and KPT Recycle Sdn Bhd (KPT) have inked a memorandum of agreement (MoA) to launch the second phase of its recycling programme, expanding kerbside collection to four additional townships in Petaling Jaya (PJ).
Nestlé Malaysia said the agreement was in line with the company's vision for a waste-free future.
The first phase of the recycling programme was launched in October 2020 to provide kerbside collection for 8,300 households in the two townships of Ara Damansara and Bandar Sri Damansara.
For the next phase, the project will extend the kerbside collection initiative to Kota Damansara, Mutiara Damansara, Tropicana and Damansara Indah, as well as Aman Suria and Taman Bukit Mayang Emas, adding an extra 11,800 households.
In total, this will account for 10 per cent of the number of households in PJ.
The MoA was signed by PJ mayor Datuk Mohd Sayuthi Bakar, Nestlé Malaysia chief executive officer Juan Aranols and KPT director Lee Chay Chen.
It was witnessed by Selangor state exco for local government, public transport and new village development Ng Sze Han and other project partner representatives from Tetra Pak (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.
Ng said a holistic approach was needed to inculcate better recycling habits among the community to achieve the national target of 40 per cent by 2025.
She said recycling rates in Malaysia improved to 30 per cent in 2020.
"As such, this programme is an excellent example of the private and public sectors coming together for the betterment of the community, which has already achieved tangible results. On this note, I am pleased to see Nestlé, MBPJ and KPT taking the next step in this project to create greener, thriving communities in Selangor," she said.
Mohd Sayuthi said PJ was one of the most densely populated areas of the Klang Valley with over 770,000 inhabitants.
"On average, Malaysians generate 200,000 tonnes of domestic waste per month and if not sustainably managed, this will not only significantly impact the environment but may lead to serious health hazards.
"Increasing recycling rates is key to addressing this and we have made good progress in the first phase of the project with an encouraging response from the residents. By expanding to more townships, we hope that this will inspire more residents to get involved and support sustainable development aspirations for PJ," he said
Aranols said Nestlé Malaysia believed that achieving a waste-free future requires collaborative efforts.
"This is aptly demonstrated with this successful pilot programme, as in just six months, we have recorded a combined household participation rate of 60 per cent in Ara Damansara and Bandar Sri Damansara, collecting over 112 tonnes of recyclable waste," he added.
With these positive outcomes, he said the company was pleased to extend this project to the second phase to include four more townships in PJ.
"This will help to improve recycling rates in Malaysia, foster circular economy opportunities and contribute towards our vision to ensure that none of our packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfills or as litter.
"This is also in line with our global pledge to ensure that 100 per cent of our packaging will be recyclable and reusable by 2025," he said.
Creating a seamless process for residents, the programme distributed recycling bags and bins to households and implemented a systematic collection process, involving weekly collection rounds.
During the collection process, data and feedback is gathered to keep track of household participation and ensure good recycling management.