Recycle organic wastes - Compost Project

The signboard of the project

The conveyor used in shredding the organic matters.


The ready compost sold at RM3/kg.
(Some small pieces of plastic straws were found included in the package.
Contained lots of fibers)

May 3, 2011
By DERRICK VINESH
Star

THE public can bring their organic wastes to the Bagan Ajam market in Butterworth to have them turned into fertilisers within 24 hours.

Penang Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said a composting plant was recently set up at the market’s car park for the purpose.

He said the project, believed to be the first in Penang, was an initiative by the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) and S.I. Green Management Sdn Bhd.

“The company has invested about RM1mil into the technology and plant which has the capacity of processing up to four metric tonnes of wastes per day.

“Presently, the company processes about a tonne of wastes daily and is in need of more wastes to optimise operations,” he said after visiting the plant on Sunday.

Phee said effective microorganisms were used as a catalytic agent to help turn the wastes into fertilisers within a short period of time.

He said all types of organic kitchen wastes, both oily and dry, such as food discards as well as garden wastes such as leaves and twigs were turned into fertilisers that were later sold to the public.

“Apart from padi straws and other agricultural wastes, the people can also bring durian skins and other fruit wastes to this plant,” he said, adding that leachate from the plant was turned into liquid fertiliser.

Phee said he had asked the company to set up similar plants in the other four districts in the state following the success of the pilot plant.

He said that through the state’s Cleaner, Greener Penang campaign and various other recycling efforts, there had been a daily reduction of about 175 metric tonnes of wastes sent to the Pulau Burung landfill.

“We have saved about RM4,000 a day in transportation and storage costs due to this.

“This means we can save nearly RM1.4mil per annum which can be used for beneficial community projects,” he said.

MPSP president Maimunah Mohd Sharif said she would try to get wastes from other markets to be sent to the plant as well.

She said the council’s grass cutting contractors as well as canteen operators in factories and schools could send their wastes to the plant.

“We will work out a mechanism to get residents in our Ampang Jajar low-cost flats in Seberang Jaya to start a pilot effort to send their wastes to this plant,” she said.

Recycle Shopping Bags from Butterworth

Oct 13, 2009
Bagging a novel idea
Star
By DERRICK VINESH

EVER considered owning Penang-made shopping bags which are made from re-cycled advertisement banners?

The bags might even bear the pictures of local models, actors, singers or even politicians wishing their constituents “Selamat Hari Raya”.

All this is the effort of the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) Committee which has started a pilot project to make shopping bags from recycled banners and streamers.

The move has also helped a few individuals to earn extra income.

Housewife Ee Beng Choo from Kampung Telaga Air in Raja Uda, Butterworth, said she could earn up to RM40 a day from sewing 40 bags in eight hours.

The 21-year-old gets her supply from banner agent Chiam Seng Leong who drops off a few bundles of banners every week.

“I will clean them with water and soap and then hang them to dry before cutting them up into standard sizes for the bags and handles,” she said in a recent interview.

Ee, who occasionally sews children’s clothes for sale in pasar malam, said she uses her regu- lar clothes sewing machine to sew the bags.

“But, I would switch to a thic-ker needle and use high-speed bonded thread to sew these bags as their materials are very thick,” she said, adding that her mother-in-law Khor Siew Moy, 57, would assist her in her tasks.

Contractor Ang Lee Seng, 61, who is from the same village, said he could earn 40 sen for preparing each set of five pieces of cut banner material to be sewn into shopping bags.

“I can prepare 80 sets of cut material per day and earn up to RM300 a month from this business,” he said.

MPSP LA 21 Committee co-ordinator Chew Eng Seng said the shopping bags, measuring 45cm by 35cm (18 inch by 14 inch), make ideal grocery bags, document holders and gift bags.

He said the banners that cost between RM80 and RM100 each, were made from good quality canvas-like synthetic plastic that prevented water seepage.

“When the month-long permit on the banners expire, most of the advertisers do not want them back.

“They either leave them han-ging at different locations or dump them into the rubbish bins,” he said.

Chew said the council had stored a few thousand banners collected over the past years at its store in Permatang Tengah, Bagan Ajam.

State Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Com-mittee chairman Phee Boon Poh said the state had allocated RM6,000 for the recycling pro-ject.

He said an agent had been appointed to collect the banners from the council and distribute them to five seamstresses in Seberang Prai to be turned into bags.

“The idea of recycling the bags came from the Friends of the Penang Botanic Gardens Society,” he said.

He said the state would give away the bags free-of-charge to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that were keen on selling them to raise funds for charity.

“The average price of the bag is RM10 each but it is up to the NGOs to charge whatever amount,” he said. About 600 bags have been given away since the effort started early last month.

Those keen on donating used banners, streamers and posters, can drop them off at the LA 21 secretariat at MPSP Central Seberang Prai district office at Jalan Betek in Bukit Mertajam.

For details, contact Chew at 012-4779330.