Starting out with only 23 schools in 2013, the Iskandar Malaysia Ecolife Challenge (IMELC) programme in the eighth year of its implementation has now involved 546 schools with 55,000 students from all over the state of Johor.
Datuk Ismail Ibrahim, Chief Executive of IRDA, said, “IMELC is one of the initiatives in the Iskandar Malaysia Low Carbon Community Action Plan (LCSBPIM 2025) that will have a positive impact on climate change. This will enable Iskandar Malaysia to balance rapid economic development with social development and environmental care and conservation for a more balanced way of life for the people in this region.”
IMELC 2020
IMELC 2020 has been successfully implemented online through the development of modules by researchers at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia through the Google Prof. platform. This digital version of a community awareness programme is the first of its kind in Malaysia.
Collection of Recycled Goods Increased Despite the Pandemic
Executive Director of SWM Environment Sdn. Bhd., Dr Uzir Abdul Malik said that a total of 232 tonnes of recycled goods were collected by students and teachers as well as parents, aiming to increase the national recycling percentage rate by up to 40% by 2025. IMELC 2020 also recorded an increase in the collection of recycled goods compared to 2019 despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over RM100K Saved!
A total of RM19,172.05 electricity bill and RM29,192.39 water bills were successfully saved in October and November 2020, while RM52,930.61 (204,828.5 kg) was collected from early January until November 2020 – during this competition. A total of RM101,291.05 was saved and generated by students and schools participating in IMELC 2020.