KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Foundation has taken the sustainability concept a few notches higher by supporting its employees’ green initiative.
This was undertaken through the Zero Waste & Urban Farm Community project, aimed at recycling organic food waste into usable compost for farming.
Today the project was launched at Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (SKTTDI) 1 and is very timely given that Malaysians produce 15,000 tonnes of food waste daily, the foundation said in a statement.
It adds that from that amount, an estimated 8,000 tonnes could have been redistributed while 3,000 tonnes eventually end up in landfills.
The project is financed by the Foundation’s Community Link programme, which aims to encourage as many CIMB employees as possible to undertake meaningful CSR projects in their local communities.
The project is executed in collaboration with AXILE Consulting Sdn Bhd, a consulting company which came out with the Zero Waste & Urban Farm Community project as part of CIMB’s CSR efforts.
The project was officiated by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CIMB Foundation Datuk Hamidah Naziadin, together with Deputy CEO of CIMB Group Commercial Banking Ahmad Shazli Kamarulzaman, Principal of SKTTDI Ramnah Darus and Managing Director of AXILE Azlan Yaacob.
Through this model, SKTTDI (1) will be able to compost their food waste using the composting machines which will be permanently stationed at the school and could produce compost within just 24 hours.
The pilot initiative of the project took place at Masjid At-Taqwa and the police station in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, during which 15 kilograms of compost were produced for local residents to freely use.
In the next few months, CIMB Foundation will install five composting machines permanently at strategic places in TTDI while volunteers from CIMB and AXILE will train the local communities on using the machine, and on establishing urban farms.
“We are pleased to support this zero-waste and urban farming
project, which fits in well with the Foundation’s bigger sustainability goals,” said Hamidah.
She said through the Community Link programme, the foundation is truly encouraged by highly practical staff-proposed initiatives that empower local communities to resolve basic issues with meaningful outcomes.
“Over the years, our staff have championed many small causes which are easily scalable, which have been the driving success of our Community Link programme nationwide since its inception in 2007”, she added.
This year, CIMB Foundation’s Community Link environmental sustainability efforts also include the construction of “micro hydro” system to provide 30 families in Long Resingan, Sarawak, with a lifetime supply of electricity and water, the provision of portable solar systems to 120 families in Bentong, Pahang and Lawas, Sarawak and a full-scale solar powered system for a kindergarten in Long Lamam, Ulu Baram Sarawak.