BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: A total of 439kg of washed-up waste was collected during a beach clean-up held in conjunction with Earth Day 2026 on Sunday (April 26) at Lumut Recreational Beach in Kampung Lumut, Belait District.
The event, titled ‘Pantai Tani’, was attended by the Head of Kampung Lumut II, Awang Haji Khairdon bin Haji Dahlan, as guest of honour, alongside village heads from nearby areas, Village Consultative Council (MPK) members, volunteers and participants.
Co-founder of youth grassroots initiative Vil-Laju, Nabilah Assyahirah said the programme was part of ongoing efforts to engage communities and young people in environmental activities aligned with national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Among our main initiatives is Ctrl+P, which is a project based on the circular economy that focuses on the collection and processing of used plastic bottles, turning them into 3D printing filaments.”
The clean-up focused on collecting various types of marine debris, including plastic bags, cans and plastic bottles. The bottles will be repurposed into 3D printing filaments as part of the group’s recycling efforts.
Activities were divided into two main components, including a Waste Collection Weight Competition, where teams collected and sorted waste, with particular attention given to PET plastic bottles.
“Meanwhile, ‘Tales of Trash’ served as an interactive storytelling activity where participants shared the background or the discovery of a unique item found during cleaning. This fostered a dialogue on the origins of marine debris and the impact of human consumption on the environment,” she added.
The programme began with a safety briefing, followed by an opening address by the guest of honour and a warm-up session. Participants were then assigned zones for the clean-up, which included waste collection and sorting.
The event concluded with the weighing of collected waste for data purposes, followed by a prize presentation for competition winners and a token of appreciation for the guest of honour. – Borneo Bulletin/ANN
