Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (F&NHB) kickstarted the 2023 iteration of the Pertandingan Kitar Semula Sekolah-Sekolah (PerKISS) on 20th March 2023 as part of the Group’s continuous efforts to raise awareness about the importance of recycling among schoolchildren. The campaign is held in partnership with Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation (SWCorp) Malaysia, an agency under the Ministry of Local Government Development. This 5 months++ campaign will conclude on 31 August 2023, and targets about 1300 primary and secondary schools throughout Malaysia.
Each participating school will compete to collect the largest number of recyclable materials as well as implement a creative campaign to practice the 3R principles of ‘Reduce, Reuse & Recycle’. All of the schools will be assessed at the end of the campaign period and the winners will receive a cash prize sponsored by F&NHB.
F&NHB has been working closely with SWCorp and the Ministry of Education (KPM) since 2019 as one of the partners of the PerKISS programme. Besides PerKISS, the Group also works closely with municipal councils around Malaysia on a School Recycling Programme. In 2022, F&N partnered with 13 municipal councils to reach 1,469 schools, and successfully collected a combined amount of 3,215,092.24kg in recyclable waste, namely aluminum, plastic waste, beverage cartons, papers, boxes, metals, and e-waste.
“F&NHB has always placed great importance in helping the youth gain a greater understanding about the importance of recycling and going green. We at F&NHB believe that good habits around recycling and sustainability must start at a young age. The success of our recycling campaigns has proven that students are capable of making decisions about how to live sustainably. This is why we would like to continue working closely with SWCorp and other stakeholders in the public and private sector on environmental initiatives. We strongly believe that the next generation will be agents of change that will work towards building a greener nation,” said Karen Tan, Director of Communications, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at F&NHB.
“The national recycling rate in 2022 stands at over 30%, a good sign that we are moving towards becoming a more environmentally-conscious society as per the 12th Malaysia Plan’s target of reaching a 40% recycling rate by 2025. However, there are still many challenges to overcome, such as low participation among Malaysians in separating their solid waste at the source. We aim to change this mindset by cultivating a sense of importance towards sustainable waste management within the next generation through programmes such as PerKISS,” said Ismail Mokhtar, Chief Executive Officer at SWCorp.
For more information about PerKISS and F&NHB’s School Recycling Programme, please contact Rizal Bin Abdul Rahman at rizal@fn.com.my.
