Melaka, 19 January 2023

Solid waste management company - SWM Environment Sdn Bhd - expects an active participation from locals on recycling efforts with the opening of the pioneer KITARecycle hub in the state by the middle of this year.

Its corporate general manager Mohd Norlisam Mohd Nordin said three main elements have been incorporated.

It includes a drive-thru recycling and awareness centres to encourage recycling and provide accurate information about sustainable waste management.

“Therefore, we hope more locals will recycle for a better lifestyle and environment.

“The initiative is also aimed at prolonging the lifespan of the landfills in the state,” he said after a handing-over ceremony of a site at Botanical Garden in Ayer Keroh for the setting-up of the hub in the state recently.

He also said it is aimed at making recycling an economic cycle capable of generating income.

The company is in a strategic partnership with the Hang Tuah Jaya Municipal Council to make available the hub and other related facilities in its jurisdiction.

Also present at the event were Melaka housing, local government and environment committee chairman Datuk Zaidi Attan and council president Datuk Shadan Othman.

Last year, Zaidi said the operation of a new sanitary field at the Sungai Udang landfill is expected to start in July 2023 in a bid to avoid a repetition of a waste disposal crisis here, some five years ago.

He said the new sanitary field is expected to last for another 10 years.

In August 2017, the Sungai Udang sanitary landfill - which received more than 1,000 tonnes of waste per day - faced a major crisis when it was filled to the brim.

The situation was then blamed on the failure in its material recovery facility where no separation was made on the waste at an earlier stage before sending it to the landfill.

The landfill site began operations in April 2015, following the closure of the 25.5ha landfill in Krubong, at the end of 2014.

In the same year, the Federal Government ordered an internal investigation on the alleged mismanagement of the Sungai Udang landfill.