In line with green city initiative

Bulky polystyrene from electronic goods packaging are being compressed to be made into useful items at the centre. — Photos: SAM THAM/The Star

AN integrated recycling centre is Petaling Jaya City Council’s (MBPJ) next step towards dealing with waste in the city.

Named the PJ Eco Recycling Plaza, the centre is possibly the first of its kind started by a local council.

MBPJ is focusing on recycling polystyrene into plastic pallets and turning discards such as durian and coconut husks into bio-charcoal at the city council’s integrated recycling centre in Sungai Way.

Its main aim is to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills.

City council staff upcycling waste into benches at the PJ Eco Recycling Plaza in SS8 Petaling Jaya.

Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain launched the centre which will be fully opera-tional by the third quarter of next year.

“We aim to work towards a sustainable and low-carbon city through the 3R concept which is reduce, reuse and recycle.

“This is in line with MBPJ’s sustainable development goal and part of the new urban agenda requiring local councils to aspire towards a green city.

“We must also tackle local problems and in our case, we are looking into the waste manage-ment issue,” said Mohd Azizi.

(From left) Three plants grown using chemical fertiliser, without any compost, and with liquid compost made from recycled material, respectively. The one grown with liquid compost has more leaves and looks healthier.

Located in SS8 Petaling Jaya, the PJ Eco Recycling Plaza is a hub with various environment-related activities such as enzyme-making, upcycling of waste and the recycling of polystyrene, coconut husks and durian skin.

The centre also aspires to be an eco-educational hub for students, the public and other local councils to learn on recycling.

Petaling Jaya Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Department director Lee Lih Shyan said the centre was formerly a building leased out by MBPJ to a supermarket.

He said the idea to set up such a centre started from the “good waste” he witnessed being dumped by Petaling Jaya residents during festival spring cleaning.

Rohani Kasim (left) taking home a discarded cupboard purchased from the PJ Eco Recycling Plaza for RM30. The cupboard was among items thrown away and was collected by MBPJ. She is seen here speaking with Lee about the centre’s purpose.

“We provide free bulk waste collection, four times a year, and we have seen good condition cupboards and other household items thrown out.

“Instead of sending them to landfills which will cost the city council money, we decided to upcycle and sell them to the public for a minimal price.

“We have city council workers who are talented in upcycling waste and such activities are carried out here,” said Lee, who was inspired by first world countries such as Sweden which has malls selling upcycled waste.

He added that items such as bulky polystyrene from electronic goods packaging were rarely recycled due to logistics issues.

The vertical garden at the PJ Eco Recycling Plaza is watered using rainwater while the fertiliser used are from food composts.

However, these items can be recycled into small plastic pallets and turned into items such as picture frames, furniture and even solid walls.

“To create 1m cubic compressed plastic block, we require 10kg of polystyrene.

“Polystyrene is lightweight but a bulky item. It is costly to transport this as it takes up space in the lorry and this puts off recycling efforts.

“As a responsible city council, we want to advocate polystyrene recycling and we have a machine that can recycle it.

“We can show the public how we do it here and welcome such trash to be sent to the centre,” said Lee.

Coconut husks that are thrown away can be recycled to make various items.

As for durian skin and coconut husks recycling, Lee said there was a lot of such waste in the city.

These wastes were turned into bio-charcoal at the centre.

“The bio-charcoal functions like a conventional charcoal used for cooking during outdoor camping activities.

“However, charcoal is also used to absorb moisture and is placed in clothes cupboards,” said Lee, adding that the centre also carried out food composting and harvest biogas used to light up the PJ Eco Recycling Plaza building itself.

Bulky polystyrene from electronic goods packaging can be recycled into small plastic pallets and turned into picture frames, furniture and even solid walls.

In a statement Mohd Azizi said the city council was in collabora­tion with F&N, Tetra Pak, Spark Foundation, INTCO Malaysia Sdn Bhd dan CH Green for the project.

Non-governmental organisations and private sector companies promoting green living would be invited to showcase their efforts and engage in activities related to the environment at the PJ Eco Recycling Plaza, he said.

He added that the centre also had a rainwater harvesting and vertical garden corner to promote eco living.

“About RM450,000 was spent on the two-storey building facade as well as the exterior renovation.

A total of 10kg of polystyrene waste is needed to create a 1m cubic compressed plastic block.

“About RM1mil will be spent to ensure the building is fully operational and RM840,000 was approved to complete the waste treatment facility here,” he said.

The Selangor State Economic Planning Unit (Upen) has allocated RM100,000 for this project.

In addition to the centre, the city council has engaged with 9,238 houses where 65 tonnes of waste had been separated for recycling.

MBPJ also created a Smart PJ Waste Solution Lab in SS2, Petaling Jaya that gathers the market waste for composting purposes.