companies could engage AFES to get a variety of services and achieve sustainability .
The first on-site port reception facilities in Malaysia
Touching on AFES ’ Marine and Land Scheduled Waste Business , Nazar said : “ Now , we have embarked on scheduled waste . Ships would park in a few ports in Malaysia , needing desludging .
“ Currently , we don ’ t have a proper solution for the desludging process . So , AFES became the first company in Malaysia to build the country ’ s first on-site port reception facilities ( PRF ).”
PRF is an integrated on-site facility , managing all types of waste at the port , including sea-going vessels generating waste categorised into three segments : scheduled waste , solid waste and sewerage .
With this facility , the waste at the port will go through pre-treatment processes before proceeding to ( Department of Environment ) DOE-licensed contractors for further recovery or final disposal at prescribed premises .
“ We already have one on-site facility in Northport . The next one will be in Johor Port , and we hope Port of Tanjung Pelepas ( PTP ) and Penang Port will follow suit . We hope to forefront in building and managing this facility .”
Educating companies and public Nazar said the sustainability awareness
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among Malaysian companies had improved significantly compared to the last 10 years . Many companies had reached out to AFES to get more information and data about sustainability , and they also started their sustainability initiatives .
“ Most of our clients already talk about sustainability . We are happy to support them . Our purpose is bigger . Most of the companies will talk about profits . As for AFES , we talk about the triple bottom line ( TBL ) - profit , people and the planet .”
Nazar believed that education was essential to spread awareness on sustainability , and AFES strived to educate people about the topic . He shared that the company had done many programmes to promote the importance of sustainability and worked with the Ministry of Environment and Water ( KASA ) on its latest campaign , where they cleaned up the river .
Among other AFES ’ green programmes were Eco Duta , Waste Wise , 3R on Wheels and 3R Boutique .
“ We already built one complex in Putrajaya . We have an education centre , sorting centre and 3R Boutique there . At the boutique , we sell preloved clothes that we have cleaned up . We sell them at around RM2 , and the money goes to charity . This is also part of sustainability as the clothes do not end up in landfills .”
Malaysia still needs landfills
When asked about Malaysia ’ s dependence on landfills , Nazar said people
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could proceed with other types of waste management , but Malaysia needed to have landfills for now . However , these landfills could be converted into sustainable landfills equipped with facilities to accommodate processes such as recycling and converting plastic to fuel , leachate treatment plants , education centres , etc .
“ The landfill normally has gas . We need to tap the gas and use it back for the industry . That ’ s why we need to have landfills , but we call them sustainable landfills ,” said Nazar , adding that these sustainable landfills might have longer lifespans compared to the conventional ones .
The federal government had also engaged AFES to assist Selangor with post-flood clean-up operations in December 2021 . Using its years of experience in handling post-flood situations , AFES managed to speed up the cleaning works .
“ Previously , when it was flooding in Manik Urai , Kelantan , we managed ( the post-flood clean-up efforts ). We also managed Pahang ’ s previous flood . For Selangor , we targeted 14 days to settle all assigned areas . But , Alhamdulillah , we have done it in 10 days .”
Nazar emphasised that planning was essential in post-flood clean-up operations . He shared AFES set up three operation rooms on-site during the Selangor flood to communicate better with the communities . — @ Green
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Most of our clients already talk about sustainability . We are happy to support them . Our purpose is bigger . Most of the companies will talk about profits . As for AFES , we talk about the triple bottom line ( TBL ) - profit , people and the planet .” |