MELAKA: Hang Tuah Jaya Municipal Council (MPHTJ) is teaming up with Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UNIKL) to spearhead a “biochar composting” technology venture which is a carbon-rich, charcoal-like substance made from organic components.
MPHTJ president Datuk Murad Husin said the joint effort is to reduce traffic at the almost choking landfill in the state and also to create awareness among locals to turn waste into a friendly resources as well as for the production of bio-gas.
“Biochar can store carbon and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and also act as a non-toxic fertiliser,” he said after signing an agreement to introduce the “biochar” technology to areas under the council’s jurisdiction at MPHTJ office at Melaka Mall here on Tuesday.
UNIKL was represented by its CEO Prof Datuk Dr Mazliham Mohd Su’ud.
Murad noted that biochar’s properties could also bring about commercialisation of natural fertilisers and could reduce global dependence on inorganic nitrogen fertilisers.
“MPHTJ’s commitment to introduce biochar techniques is in tandem with the state government’s vision to make Melaka a fully green technology city in the near future,” he said.
Murad said Sweden, the Philippines and India have successfully adopted such techniques to generate renewable energy as well as save space at landfills.
He said for a start, waste from landscaping works in areas under the council’s jurisdiction will be used to generate biochar by-products.
Biochar techniques have been used by farmers for thousands of years to enrich soil.
Traditionally, the technique is executed by heating biomass in soil-covered pits.
In recent decades, interest in biochar has grown worldwide and MPHTJ has taken this opportunity to be the first council to introduce thetechnique in the state.
Murad added that MPHTJ also sees biochar as a contemporary solution to address food wastage and as a solution to climate problems.
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