KUALA LUMPUR: The Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation (SWCorp) will spearhead the World Cleanup Day global event at the national level this year.
SWCorp chief executive officer Ismail Mokhtar said this inaugural activity will be conducted simultaneously nationwide on Sept 18.
This marks the corporation's second year of participation in the global event, where they have conducted cleaning up activities at 39 areas nationwide.
"Last year, we have worked together with 3,961 volunteers from 73 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and agencies to clean 39 areas during this event.
"From our waste audit conducted last year, we found 13.530 tonnes of waste, of which, 30 per cent are plastics, and 39 per cent are from other waste such as bulk residues or tree branches.
"We were surprised to see the number of plastics we collected last year. If the plastics collected were recycled before collection, we could have generated up to RM1,997.87.
"We also found 16,370 cigarette ends and 847 face masks during this event last year. We assumed that the number of face masks will grow this year, now that it is a necessity for everyone," he told New Straits Times recently.
Ismail said for this year's participation, SWCorp is determined to conduct the event at an even bigger scale, with the participation of 5,000 people, consisting of families, individuals and even agencies.
Given the challenges that arose during this Covid-19 pandemic, Ismail said the corporation has applied a few strategies to encourage public participation.
"The aim of participating in this global event this year is to raise awareness to the public on the importance of recycling and keeping our country as well as our planet clean.
"Since it is still considered dangerous to be gathering in a large crowd, we have decided to conduct the cleaning event for a period of two weeks, from September 6-19.
"Initially we wanted to conduct the activity on one day, which is on September 18 as that was the date where the event takes place globally.
"But due to our particular constraints at the moment, with the pandemic and the number of cases are still high, we have decided to open up our participation period for two weeks," he said.
Hoping to make the event a success around the pandemic, Ismail said members of the public who wished to participate in the global event can do so from the comfort of their homes.
"They can do spring cleaning activities, record it and submit it to us via our website and social media pages, under the World Cleanup Day Moment programme. We have allocated an e-wallet cash prize worth RM100 for 50 winners under this programme.
"Since September 6, we have received around 2,311 virtual participations where participants, consisting of individuals and agencies have uploaded their cleaning activities moments on social media, and reported their audit waste to us via our volunteers at www.sukarelawan.swcorp.my.
"We have also provided the steps on our website for the participants to learn how to calculate their waste audits.
"We have also outlined several other programmes for our participants, apart from social media participation. This is to raise awareness among the public while making it a fun learning experience for all".
Ismail said waste audits are the second key component of World Cleanup Day, as the participants can get to study and analyse the waste they have generated.
"We also wanted to recognise which brands that contribute to the most waste, and perhaps we can provide the data to them, for them to come up with more sustainable products and measures in the future".
SWCorp had also organised several other programmes in conjunction with World Cleanup Day, such as the Best Agency competition which offers participants up to RM3,000 in cash prizes to three winners.
"We have the Cilik World Cleanup Day 2021 which offered RM500 for first place, RM300 for second place, RM200 for third place and consolation prize for 10 participants worth RM100 each.
"Under our Tiktok Cleanup Challenge, we also offer RM500 for first place, RM300 for second place, RM200 for third place and consolation prize for 10 participants worth RM100 each for the winners.
"We also have short video competition where the prize offered are RM500 for first place, RM300 for second place, RM200 for third place and consolation prize for 10 participants worth RM100 each for the winners," he said.
The global event participants can also partake in a quiz, where the two top winners are entitled to win RM300 each.
"For quiz participants, two winners for second place will win RM200, each, and two winners for third place will win RM100, each.
"We have also offered consolation prizes for 30 participants worth RM50 each for the winners".
All the cash prizes, Ismail said, will be given in the form of e-wallet cash.
As the closing date for the World Cleanup Day event is coming to an end, Ismail hoped that the participants can get a fruitful experience from their participation this year.
"We hope that the participants will get to learn that taking care of the place, a country or even a planet's cleanliness is a shared responsibility".
Volunteers who wish to participate in the World Cleanup Day under SWCorp can get themselves registered at www.sukarelawan.swcorp.my. Members of the public who wish to participate can log on to their website for more information.