MWIA’s proactive stance stems from its objective of pushing its members to move forward with technological and manufacturing changes by enhancing research and development activities.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s timber players are taking the lead to bring about positive change in not only driving sustainability, but also moving the industry towards the circular economy.
Malaysian Wood Industries Association (MWIA), for instance, has embarked on its latest project called Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for Malaysian timber products, a tool that helps evaluate the environmental impact of processes and products over their entire life cycle, said its president Goh Chee Yew.
Established in 1957, MWIA’s proactive stance stems from its objective of pushing its members to move forward with technological and manufacturing changes by enhancing research and development activities, in cooperation with local and international peers.
“Besides day-to-day problem solving or engaging with all parties concerned when new regulations arise, we engage a lot when it comes to R&D projects on how we can help develop or improve the industry,” he said.
He added that the association is constantly involved in product development with local experts – such as Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) and the Forestry Department – on products that can increase and maximise the optimal consumption and adding more value for local timber, which is where LCA comes into play in the move towards zero waste and the circular economy.
The LCA tool calculates the carbon dioxide emission from ‘cradle to grave’ and covers the extraction and processing of raw materials; manufacturing, transportation and distribution; usage, re-use and maintenance, as well as recycling and disposal at the end of the life cycle.
The LCA tool that MWIA is working on with FRIM is another step towards sustainability with relation to ESG considerations, said Goh.
“This has been used as a marketing tool by many countries and is increasingly recognised for its better long-term value, as well as being more sustainable. With this tool, we feel this is an added selling point to help strengthen our position further,” he said.
He added that the association is also actively involved in drafting standards for timber and timber products, such as its auditing of the production of laminated scantlings, which has gained recognition by the international certifying body IFT Rosenheim GmbH.
For this project, MWIA is working together with FRIM to verify all figures and data arising from the LCA project it collects.
He shared, “This breakthrough hasn’t ever been done in Malaysia thus far and is a tool that can help drive the industry forward, in terms of optimising the chain of processes to reduce environmental impact and improving buyer confidence, among other benefits.
“We believe the only way to remain competitive is to prove our claims with hard facts and data, rather than something abstract, or we will be left far behind. Working with FRIM is essential, as the recognition and verification of our data is very important for global certification and recognition.”
Noting that LCA marks good progress towards the sustainability agenda, he said there is increasing demand for sustainable timber and timber-related products among medium to corporate-sized customers from developed countries, who hold environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations as their benchmark.
“Malaysia started the journey more than a decade ago (notably with the Malaysian Timber Certification Council’s Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme for sustainable management), but we’re actively ramping it up now with LCA.
“Members who wish to continue progressing and doing business with these discerning parties must definitely comply and ensure the source of their raw materials are legal and sustainable, in addition to committing to social governance, due to changing consumer behaviour,” he opined.
Another current project that the association is collaborating with the Guangxi Forestry Research Institute China in researching the Eucalyptus species for the creation of forest plantations, which has been heavily undertaken in China. The move is to address the pressing pain point of steady raw material supply for local timber players.
Alongside taking a forward-looking proactive approach to capacity building in human resources, he said, “We are in close collaboration to ensure that the techniques of planting, as well as other facilitative aspects such as research to develop fast-growing trees and hybrids that are suitable for our climate and ecology, can be replicated in Malaysia and modified to better adapt to local conditions. We’ve seen good results thus far.
“Tree planting in forest plantations is a key area that we should develop in light of long-term raw material planning. We have also set up the Plant Diseases Network Unit, which does R&D on possible causes of diseases for any crops we plant.”
At the moment, aside from tackling work standard operating procedures (SOPs) due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Goh said that industry players face a host of persisting issues.
For instance, he cites the monsoon season as a tough hurdle, as harvesting of the allotted volume of raw material cannot be achieved due to rainy days, leading to lack of supply to meet demand.
Aside from managing cash flow and ensuring a sufficient workforce, Goh said the most immediate focus for most industry players is to get business back to optimal operational levels, followed by regaining overseas buyer confidence.
“Customers will resort to sourcing from alternatives when their supply is disrupted and will continue to do so. We need to be strongly engaged with them to boost confidence and regain our lost market share. The main concern would be the export market and whether the customers will be open to sourcing from us again.
“At the end of the day, for business to survive, it comes down to restructuring in terms of complying to SOPs, ensuring proper cash flow management and workforce maintenance, securing steady supplies and finally, re-engaging and winning back customers post-Covid-19,” he said.
