PETALING JAYA: While the 1 Community 1 Recycle (1C1R) project is aimed to encourage the public to recycle and adapt to a low-carbon lifestyle, it will also lessen the financial burden of residents, especially those in the B40 group, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) mayor Datuk Seri Mahadi Che Ngah said.
“Kuala Lumpur is projected to have about 2.5 million residents by 2030, and this can make the city’s waste management challenging. Almost RM300 million is spent per year to manage our 2,200 metric tonnes of waste. This reflects badly on the quality of hygiene in the capital.
“To ensure Kuala Lumpur is clean, everyone, including the local communities, must play a role to decrease the amount of waste and cost to manage it in light of global warming. The time to act is now.”
He said the 1C1R project, which offers incentives to the B40 group when they turn in recycling items at the kiosk in return for basic necessities such as sugar, wheat flour, cooking oil and condensed milk, will help mitigate their expenses.
Among the items that can be sent for recycling to the kiosk, that operates twice a week, are aluminium cans, paper, plastic and used cooking oil.
“Five kilograms of used cooking oil can be exchanged for three 1kg packets of new cooking oil. This can reduce the negative effect on our environment as the used cooking oil will not be disposed haphazardly,” he added.
Mahadi thanked Berjaya EnviroParks (BEP) for supporting and working with City Hall on the 1C1R project, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding at the Seri Kota public housing area in Bandar Tun Razak on Tuesday.
“This joint collaboration with DBKL, the public housing area and BEP will make Kuala Lumpur a sustainable, resilient and low-carbon emission city that will be inclusive for all residents.”
He expressed confidence and looked forward to more collaborations between BEP and DBKL in support of such projects, especially those involving programmes incentivising recycling and promoting environmental sustainability.
“If this can be realised, the cost of transporting solid waste from around Kuala Lumpur to the Bukit Tagar landfill in Hulu Selangor can be reduced and translated into cost-savings for City Hall.”
The 1C1R kiosk, located at the Seri Kota public housing area, is the third kiosk after the ones in Seri Alam in Pudu and Beringin in Jinjang.
Mahadi added that DBKL wishes to expand 1C1R facilities to other public housing areas and low-cost flats throughout the city.
BEP chairman Zakaria Abdul Hamid said he has been closely following the 1C1R project since its launch in 2020, and that the collaboration was long overdue.
“BEP has been on the path to adopting sustainable development goals since 2015 and the circular economy by the United Nations. With this, we fully support DBKL’s recycling initiative.
“We saw residents nearby bringing plastics, tins, aluminium, used cooking oil, used face masks and paper to the kiosk. This is very encouraging,” he said.
