20 tonnes collected in recycling campaign
KUCHING: The first school-level recycling campaign in Sarawak saw 17 primary and secondary schools here collect a total of 20,291.2kg of recyclables.
The campaign was jointly organised by Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (F& N) and Kuching North City Commission ( DBKU), supported by the state Education Department and Tetra Pak Malaysia.
The students committed their time and effort to collect the highest number of recyclables per student including aluminium, plastic, paper and Tetra Pak drink cartons during the campaign period from June 1 to Sept 30 and vie for cash prizes worth approximately RM20,000.
Commission member Irwan Zulkarnain Muhammad Hasbie highlighted that the inaugural ‘DBKU & F& N Recycle Campaign’ aimed to enhance students’ knowledge on the importance of recycling through the 5R principle of ‘ Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink and Reinvent’.
“This campaign is also intended at inculcating the recycling habit among children in particular and the community in general,” he addressed the prize giving and closing ceremony held here yesterday.
“Through this, we hope students take the lead in making positive changes sustainably on recycling. We also realise that emphasis and education on caring and protecting our environment should start from a young age,” he said. Irwan Zulkarnain added that
This campaign is also intended at inculcating the recycling habit among children in particular and the community in general. Irwan Zulkarnain Muhammad Hasbie, Kuching North City Commission member
DBKU is committed to tackling environmental issues with efforts put into enhancing and creating a recycling culture, not only among school students but also the community at large.
F& N corporate affairs manager Cariessa Goh hoped that the campaign will encourage school children to adopt the 5R principle, and that they will continue with the recycling habit as they grow older and become agents to enact sustainable solutions to conserve the environment.
The state- level recycling campaign began in Shah Alam in 2007 and, since then, F& B has extended its reach to schools in other parts of Malaysia including Penang and Seberang Perai.
Goh revealed that as a whole, the ‘ F& N Recycle’ campaign has collected over 1 million kilogrammes of recyclables in Malaysia to date.
SJK Chung Hua No. 1 was declared champions in the primary school category with 10.97kg in recyclables collected per student, bringing home a cash prize of RM1,400.
SK St Joseph took second spot with 6.57kg in recyclables collected per student to win RM1,300 while SJK Chung Hua No. 6 came in third with 1.73kg in recyclables collected per student to walk away with RM1,200.
SMK (A) Tun Ahmad Zaidi grabbed first place in the secondary school category with 3.78kg in recyclables collected per student to take home RM1,400.
SMK St Thomas and SMK Demak Baru took second and third spots with 0.89kg and 0.72kg in recyclables collected per student to win RM1,300 and RM1,200 respectively. Besides the top three winning schools in the primary and secondary school categories, fourth and fifth place winners in each category brought home RM1,100 and RM1,000 in cash rewards respectively.
Schools coming in from sixth to tenth place in both categories did not go home empty handed as they each won a consolation cash prize of RM300.
Meanwhile, three special awards were given to primary and secondary schools with the highest aluminium, plastic and Tetra Pak materials accumulated.
SJK Chung Hua No. 1 and SMK (A) Tun Ahmad Zaidi both recorded triple wins as they won for the highest number of aluminium and plastic collected in the primary and secondary school categories respectively, on top of becoming the overall champions in their own sections.
SJK Chung Hua No. 1 and SMK (A) Tun Ahmad Zaidi collected 430.7kg and 101.4kg in aluminium respectively to win RM700 each, as well as amassing 318.8kg and 347kg in plastic items respectively to take home RM700 each.
For the biggest amount of Tetra Pak materials accumulated, SK St Mary topped the primary school category with 62.5kg to win RM700 while SMK Green Road topped the secondary school category with 1kg and took home RM700.
DBKU acting director Morshidi Ahmad, Tetra Pak ( Philippines) Incorporation environment director Terrynz Tan and district deputy education officer Chen Fei Ming were among those present.