Sustainable practices in the palm oil industry

A file photo showing plant tissue, comprising palm fronds from old trees that have been cut down, left in-situ in a Sime Darby plantation; the practice allows the material to be recycled back into the soil.

SIME Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd has been very conscious about not burning old trees from as far back as 1985, when it instituted a zero burning policy; instead, the company fells trees that have reached the end of their life cycle.

Tang Men Kon, the company’s head of plantation sustainability and quality management, explained at the conference that oil palm trees aged between 25 and 30 years are cut down and chipped to make way for replanting; the chips are left in situ to allow the plant tissue to be recycled back into the soil, thereby improving soil fertility.