Muhtar: ‘Timber is also instrumental and fits in naturally into the circular economy as it is naturally renewable, which means it can be reused and recycled into something else.’
PETALING JAYA: With the global economy expected to grow at an unprecedented rate, alongside rapid urbanisation and a rising population, a significant challenge the world currently faces is sustaining such growth through practices that can prove more beneficial for the people and planet.
Recognising the need to educate businesses on the importance of adopting a circular economy business model, Star Media Group will be organising a two-day virtual Circular Economy Conference (CEC) on July 13 and 14.
The conference will be joined by the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC), a major partner and advocator for sustainable and circularity initiatives.
Older business models are generally known for contributing towards high waste generation and consumption of raw resources.
A transition towards a circular economy offers a framework solution that promotes the elimination of waste and continued safe usage of finite natural resources.
MTC introduced its five-year roadmap in 2019, which encourages local timber companies to embrace sustainable goals and values of a circular economy, as the industry gradually seeks to progress towards sustainable production and consumption.
Muhtar Suhaili, the chief executive officer of MTC, explained that timber offers significant advantages for the circular economy, given the resource is naturally renewable and easily reusable when paired with regenerative economic principles.
It is also capable of replacing outputs associated with more energy-intensive load-bearing materials.
“Wood is a naturally renewable, reusable, and biodegradable material.
“Our mission remains to increase demand for wood as a material through promotion of its environmental, technical and aesthetic benefits.
“However, in addition to promoting its low-carbon qualities, we are now focusing even more on the circularity of wood as a material as well.
“We want to break down the carbon story around timber. This can be done through sustainably sourced wood which helps with mitigating the effects of climate change through CO2 (carbon dioxide) capture and storage.
“Timber is also instrumental and fits in naturally into the circular economy as it is naturally renewable, which means it can be reused and recycled into something else.
“Wood offers some significant advantages in the circular economy.
“Wood products have an environmental benefit from being able to sequester carbon.
“They take a smaller amount of input energy to produce compared to other materials such as cement, glass, steel and aluminium.
“As a lighter material, it can cut down on transport emissions.
“And Malaysia has an advantage with its sustainably sourced and produced timber and timber products here at home,” said Muhtar.
Currently, MTC seeks to spearhead the timber section’s circular economy transition through close collaboration with sector peers and relevant stakeholders.
It intends to provide innovative solutions in building towards a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive future, while also empowering those from other industries to do the same.
As one of the main partners in CEC 2022, MTC sees the upcoming conference as the perfect opportunity for relevant stakeholders to build strategic partnerships and spread awareness regarding the benefits that flow from a circular economy.
“It’s absolutely the best time to be talking about using and building more with timber,” said Muhtar.
“Timber is beginning to receive recognition for the role it plays in helping decarbonise the built environment and moving us towards nett zero (carbon emissions).
“But we can’t become complacent about this.
“It’s why pushing timber conversations is still important.
“In the architecture, design and construction worlds, the conversation is moving on from discussions about embodied carbon in buildings to circularity.
“It’s one of the reasons we are actively participating in this conference to promote timber’s inherent circular properties.”
Muhtar further emphasised that businesses play an important role when it comes to making efforts toward a greener economy, and are encouraged to take an active part in shaping the transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy.
One of the main topics that will be discussed in the conference will be the differences between recycling and a circular economy featuring an industry expert from MTC, George Yap.
He will be joined by other thought leaders and industry experts from both locally and abroad to educate and facilitate discussions on how the circular economy can be developed and scaled.
Join our free live virtual conference to understand the importance of incorporating circular economy policies into your own business.
To register, head over to bit.ly/CircularEconCon2022.
