GLASS RECYCLING IN KUANTAN

EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL FOR

INCREASING RECYCLING BY COLLECTION OF

SOURCE SORTED GLASSIN KUANTAN

and Local GovernmentDanish International

Development AssistanceMajlis Daerah

Kuantan

Printed on Recycled PaperMinistry of Housing

CARRIED OUT BY:Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan

FUNDED BY:Solid Waste Management Component (SWMC)Community Initiative and Educational FundDANIDA

CONSULTANT:COWI A/S

RESPONSIBLE ENTITY:Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan

AUTHORS:Carl TraeholtChen Saw Ling

PUBLISHED BY:Department of National Solid Waste ManagementMinistry of Housing and Local GovernmentLevel 2 & 4, Block B North, Pusat Bandar Damansara50644 Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaTel: +603 2092 4488Fax: +603 2093 5982www.kpkt.gov.my

PRINTED BY:Meridian Solutions1st EditionNovember 2010 1,000 Copies

Table of Contents

Abbreviations and Acronyms i

Foreword ii

Message iii

Background 1

The Need for Glass Collection Programme 3

Project Design and Implementation 4

Implementation of Permanent Glass Collection Programme 15

School Glass Recycling Campaign 18

Survey on Waste Separation and Recycling Habits Among Students 21

Costing Experience for the Collection Programme 22

Challenges and Lessons Learnt 25

Recommendations 27

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Alam Flora Alam Flora Sdn. Bhd.

DANIDA Danish International Development Assistance

KITS Alam Flora Children Programme

MHLG Ministry of Housing and Local Government

MOA Ministry of Agriculture

MOH Ministry of Health

MPK Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan (Kuantan Municipal Council)

NGO Non-governmental organisation

PUM Cullet PUM Cullet Sdn. Bhd.

RO-RO Roll-On, Roll-Off

Tzu Chi Buddhist Tzu Chi Merits Society Malaysia

i

Foreword

Today, most people in Malaysia are becoming aware of the need to enhance sustainability in the way we consume our resources. In recent years, the authorities as well as private organisations, community groups and individuals have carried out numerous initiatives to reduce the amount of waste produced or to ensure the materials are recycled after use. However, we still have a long way to go before we truly can call our way of living sustainable.

Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan (MPK) has realised the need to continuously improve recycling and waste minimisation and expand the range of materials we recycle and the means we use for improving recycling. One important waste fraction which the MPK has decided to look into

to increase recycling is used glass. In most places in Malaysia, recycling of glass is very limited as recycling is hardly economically viable. This is especially the case for cities located far way from the users which is the case for Kuantan.

Recycling of glass is very important not only to save resources but also because making new bottles and containers from recycled glass requires much less energy than making them from primary raw materials. In the era of global warming, we cannot let this opportunity for reducing energy consumption remains un-utilised.

This booklet presents an initiative by MPK to break the limits for recycling by including glass in our recycling schemes. I hope by reading this booklet, other councils or groups will be inspired to follow our path or to test other new and exciting avenues in order to break the traditional barriers for recycling.

Finally, I would like to bring my sincere thanks to all that have worked hard to make this project possible and successful- the committed staff of the council, residents’ associations, schools, teachers, motivated students, restaurants, other entities providing glass for the scheme, Alam Flora Sdn. Bhd. (Alam Flora), recyclers, Budhist Tzu Chi Merits Society Malaysia (Tzu Chi), other supporting non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and not the least, the Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA) Solid Waste Management Community Initiatives Fund for generously supporting the project financially.

DATO AzIzAN bIN AHMADYang DipertuaMajlis Perbandaran Kuantan

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Message

Public participation and awareness are instrumental for improving the way we deal with our waste today. Waste reduction and recycling can only be successful if the authorities, private sector and the public work together in unity for the better of the society.

In 2005, the Government of Denmark through DANIDA agreed with the Government of Malaysia to establish a fund to support Local Authorities who were committed to carry out such initiatives to increase public participation and awareness in solid waste management on the local level.

The fund was subsequently established in 2006 and the Local Authorities were requested to submit proposals for funding. The response from the Local Authorities was overwhelming and very encouraging. It was not easy for the Ministry and DANIDA to select the 10 initiatives among the large number of interesting and promising ideas which could be financed within the budgetary limit. The strong response is a clear demonstration of the commitment and enthusiasm towards saving resources and protecting the environment that exists in many Local Authorities and communities.

The initiatives selected include a very broad range of activities involving many parts of the society, including residents, school children, hotels, restaurants, hawkers and tourists, just to mention a few. The ranges of subjects are similarly broad, including waste reduction, recycling, home composting, bulky waste management and cleanliness.

The fund has now come to an end and it is time to sum up the experience and the lessons learnt. Through a series of booklets, each initiative is presented and the experience and lessons learnt are documented.

It is my hope that the booklets will act as an inspiration for others. The booklets are made not only to facilitate replication of the initiatives but is also hoped that the booklets will inspire residents, communities and businesses to come up with different and new ideas to further increase the involvement of the society and the hope for a brighter future for all of us.

The present booklet presents one of the successful community initiatives – Glass Recycling in Kuantan.

DATO’ NADzRI bIN YAHAYA, Ph.DDirector General Department of National Solid Waste ManagementMinistry of Housing and Local Government

iii

Background

Glass constitutes a significant part of solid waste produced in the society. Glass is primarily used for bottles or other containers for storing consumables and for drinking glass or windows. Compared to many other types of waste, glass is unique because it can be 100% recycled. Furthermore, manufacturing new glass products from recycled glass requires only 40% of the energy necessary to make glass from virgin raw materials. In practical terms, every recycled bottle saves an equivalent amount of energy as is required to run a television set for 1.5 hours. Finally, every piece of glass deposited takes up valuable landfill space. Therefore, glass recycling saves energy and raw materials, reduces manufacturing cost of new products and prolongs the lifespan of landfills.

Yet, glass recycling in Malaysia is still in its infancy. Less than 30% of new bottles are made from recycled glass compared to 80% in Thailand and 60-70% in Europe. A vast majority of glass still ends up at landfills.

In 2001, Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan (MPK) started its recycling unit. This unit was made responsible for deploying recycling bins for the collection and recycling of paper, plastic and metal. At the same time, MPK began a recycling awareness programme for schools. The council conducted awareness talks at different schools each month to foster public participation. Along with this, MPK established a “Club 25” programme that referred to school environmental clubs aiming at achieving a recycling rate of 25%. At this point in time, however, glass recycling was not yet included in the programme.

At that time, no systematic collection for glass bottles was in place at the East Coast of Malaysia. Glass recycling in Kuantan remained limited to a few sporadic initiatives undertaken by local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Tzu Chi and the waste contractor, Alam Flora. Recycled glass bottles from these initiatives were often sent to buyers in Thailand.

Later, Alam Flora terminated their glass collection activities as the volume of glass was low and the subsequent sales value did not justify the expenses incurred by collecting and handling the glass.

Realising the many benefits of glass recycling, MPK was eager to explore the opportunities for expanding recycling in Kuantan to include glass. Whilst the benefits of glass recycling are obvious, a number of issues needed further exploration to gauge whether or not glass recycling is viable and practical before a decision could be made.

By 2008, MPK had begun a house-to-house glass collection at Taman Berjaya Permai and Kempadang Perdana on a trial basis. The glass was collected twice a week and the monthly collection was averaged at 3-4 tonnes. Glass collection was still conducted in selected areas by Tzu Chi where the amount collected was averaged at 2-3 tonnes per month. In contrast to MPK, Tzu Chi did not follow a scheduled collection but collected when source groups informed

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them that their bins were full. The glass collected by Tzu Chi was donated to MPK.

Once collected, the glass was brought to the MPK premises where it was crushed manually before it was sent to KL Glass in Petaling Jaya. However, in the beginning of 2008, KL Glass had stopped buying used glass, leaving the only buyer in Malaysia, i.e. PUM Cullet Sdn. Bhd. (PUM Cullet). PUM Cullet uses recycled glass at its plant in Pasir Gudang Johor, among others from a collection hub in Klang Valley. At a distance of approximately 300km from Kuantan, this collection hub remained the nearest place for MPK to sell collected glass.

At a rate of 6-7 tonnes of glass collected per month, the main challenge for MPK was finding sufficient storage space. Other key constraints for MPK glass recycling programme was the low price offered for used glass combined with the heavy weight and high transportation cost to the recycling facilities.

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3

The Need for Glass Collection Programme

When Alam Flora terminated their glass collection activities, Kuantan was void of a glass recycling programme which covered the city broadly. As described above, MPK recognised the need for such programme. However, the council also realised that in order to ensure the economic viability of a glass recycling system in Kuantan, a number of assumptions must be fulfilled. The assumptions were as follow:

Coordinated and effective collection system must be • developed and made functional

Support from potential source groups, e.g. local • communities, restaurants, factories and schools to actively participate and separate glass in an appropriate manner must be ensured

Storage centres for the collected glass must be made • available

Sufficient amount of glass to make collection financially • worthwhile must be available (Box 1)

To test the possibility of meeting these assumptions, MPK decided to apply to the Solid Waste Management Component Community Initiatives Fund which was established by DANIDA in cooperation with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (MHLG) for support to a programme on community involvement in glass recycling. The proposed programme aimed at engaging the public in glass recycling. The programme was titled “Public participation in glass collection in Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan”.

A proposal with a budget of RM 120,000 was approved by the Fund on 27 May 2008 and the contract was signed on 23 July 2008. The proposal listed the following objectives:

To establish a glass collection system from selected source groups under the jurisdiction of MPK 1.

To establish a Glass Collection Centre in MPK for crushing and storing the glass collected before transfering 2. them to user

To instil awareness among the schools on glass recycling3.

To evaluate the sustainability of operating the proposed glass collection system and centre4.

The programme was initially approved for a 12-month duration, starting from September 2008 until August 2009 but was later extended to December 2009.

A “sufficient” amount depends on the expense level. Large urban areas, e.g. Klang Valley can provide more glass per hectare of city with only short distance to buyer which will reduce the overall operational cost. In comparison, small and moderate-sized urban areas far away from the buyer, e.g. Kuantan will face a relatively higher operational cost.

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Project Design and Implementation

Before submitting the proposal for the glass recycling programme to the Fund, MPK organised 2 meetings with the stakeholders to provide information and obtain feedback on the proposed programme. The first meeting was conducted on 9 November 2007 and the invited stakeholders included current and previous used glass collectors such as Alam Flora and Tzu Chi, Department of Education and the principals from some interested schools. This meeting was attended by 20 stakeholders. The second meeting was conducted on 8 April 2008. This meeting was attended by 30 representatives from the main generators of used glass such as the Kuantan Coffee-Shop Association, Industrial Association of Pahang and used glass collectors such as Alam Flora and Tzu Chi. The meetings supported the establishment of the programme.

Subsequently, MPK formed a Project Committee consisting of representatives from Alam Flora, Tzu Chi, Department of Education and the Town and Village Safety and Development Committee. MPK was appointed as the chairperson for the Project Committee and was given the role of “Responsible Entity”, i.e. responsibility for the practical implementation of the project.

The Project Committee identified the key activity areas in which each representative would be responsible for:

(i) MPK

Undertakes the overall programme implementation•

Establishes a Glass Collection Centre•

Collects and transfers glass to MPK Glass Collection Centre•

Maintains the records of glass collected•

Prepares and distributes awareness and educational materials •

Organises awareness campaigns for residents and schools•

(ii) Alam Flora (Waste Contractor)

Assists in the distribution of awareness materials on glass recycling to schools and residents•

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(iii) Tzu Chi

Continue to collect glass in areas in which they were already active and coordinates their activities with • MPK

Delivers the collected glass to MPK•

(iv) Department of Education

Coordinates with MPK to encourage schools and their “Environmental School Clubs (Club 25)” to • participate in the glass collection programme

Assists in the inter-school glass collection competitions •

(v) Town and Village Safety and Development Committee

Informs residents about the glass recycling programme and the importance of their participation to • ensure its success

Cooperates with MPK and Alam Flora to encourage residents to attend awareness talks on glass • recycling

Apart from the stakeholders represented in the Project Committee, 2 additional stakeholder groups were also requested to participate and contribute in the process. They were:

(a) Major Used Glass Generators Such As Restaurants, Pubs and Entertainment Outlets, Hotels, Hypermarts, Car Workshops and Photo-Framing Shops

Coordinate and assign staff to oversee the proper procedures of glass sorting and usage of bins • provided by MPK

(b) Glass Recycler (PUM Cullet)

Receives glass collected from MPK upon payment •

Provides talks on glass recycling for schools•

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Glass Sales and Transportation

Construction of Glass Collection Centre, deployment of bins and collection of glass

Project Implementation

At identified glass sourcesAwareness-raising

MPK, Alam Flora, Tzu Chi, Department of Education, Residents’ AssociationsFormation of Project Committee

MPK and DANIDAProject Approval

MPK with relevant stakeholdersIdeal Formulation

Types and sorting of glass included in the recycling programme First of all, the Project Committee had to determine the types of glass to be included in the collection system. The determination was made based on the criteria set by the recyclers. Suitable glass for the collection programme was determined as all pure, non-laminated glass such as bottles, jugs, jars, windows, etc. and excluded laminated glass such as mirrors, window glass with sunscreen, etc.

At the onset of the glass recycling programme, MPK planned to separate clear glass from coloured glass because colour-sorted class can fetch more attractive prices. A potential glass buyer offered RM 160 per tonne of clear glass against only RM 100 per tonne for coloured or mixed glass. However, subsequently the only buyer of clear glass stopped receiving recycled glass, leaving only one potential buyer of recycled glass, i.e. PUM Cullet (Box 2). PUM Cullet did not distinguish between clear and coloured glass but offered a flat rate at RM 100 for all mixed glass. The facility in PUM Cullet was capable of sorting mixed glass into flint (clear glass), green and subsequently, amber glass. MPK therefore, did not separate clear glass from coloured glass as originally planned.

The PUM Group is involved in manufacturing, mining, engineering, construction services, processing of used glass and material supply to the glass industries. It operates 2 silica processing plants in Johor producing approximately 400,000 tonnes of silica sand per year for the market in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. In 2006, PUM Group set up a factory in Pasir Gudang, Johor for recycling of used glass.

The process of setting up a glass recycling programme

Development of awareness of the glass collection programme

After signing of the contract in July 2008, an awareness programme was initiated.

Information brochures and posters were designed and printed. The brochures contained short and concise instructions on the type of glass containers, jars and bottles which are suitable for recycling while the posters presented the steps of glass recycling.

TYPES OF GLASS

SUITAbLE FOR RECYCLING(Clear glass & coloured glass, broken or intact)

Wine and liquor bottles

beer bottles

Juice and water containers

Jars for jam

Drinking glass

Containers for soy sauce and

other sauces

PLEASE DO NOTINCLUDE : x Ceramic coffee cups x Mirrorsx Light bulbs x Pyrex x Windowsx Car windshieldx Porcelain x Toxic bottle containers

Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan is establishing a collection centre for glass tofacilitate glass recycling. This is part of the community initiative to encouragepublic participation in solid waste management.

Recycling of glass is important because it :

• Saves energyMaking new glass from recycled glass uses much less energy and reduces CO2 emissions

• Conserves the environmentGlass is 100% recyclable. Recycling your glass minimises consumption of raw materials.

• Reduces waste disposal costsDiverting glass containers to recycling can help reduce the cost of collecting and disposing of glass. It also saves this valuable material from being thrown away in landfills as used bottles

and jars. Everyone can help the environment by recycling glass.Thank you for your cooperation in this initiative !

COMMUNITY INITIATIVE IN GLASS COLLECTION CENTRE IN MAJLIS PERBANDARAN KUANTAN

3 EASY STEPS :

1. DRAIN the container

2. RINSE IT

3. BIN IT in the bag provided

DanidaDanish International

Development Assistance

A brochure on glass recycling

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8

A poster on glass recycling

9

The brochures were distributed to the different categories of generators of used glass during a series of awareness talks which were organised by MPK in order to promote active participation in the glass recycling programme. The following awareness talks were conducted:

Awareness talks on the glass recycling programme

No Location No. of Talks Conducted No. of brochures Distributed

1 Schools 40 400

2 Hotels 3 30

3 Restaurants/Pubs 3 30

4 Industries 2 20

5 MPK Stalls 2 20

The posters were subsequently distributed to the pubs, schools and residents’ associations by the MPK officers.

Trial glass collection

In order to estimate the amount of glass available for the collection as well as to estimate the cost of collecting and transporting them to the recyclers, MPK decided to undertake a preliminary twice monthly trial collection of glass. The trial collection was carried out during November 2008-January 2009 in conjunction with the preparation and distribution of the awareness materials. The recycling unit of MPK collected the glass every fortnight and brought it to the temporary collection centre at the MPK premises. Plastic bags for storing the glass until collection were distributed to the premises.

The potential sources for glass collection were divided into 4 groups:

Group 1:

(a) The residential areas of Taman Berjaya Permai (750 households) and Kempadang Perdana (352 households) which already took part in the previous glass collection activity performed by MPK.

(b) The residential areas where Tzu Chi had already established its glass collection activity. The recyclables were collected on a call-basis, i.e. when the container/bin is full, the customers will call them for collection. The collected recyclables from these areas were transferred to the Tzu Chi recycling centre where they also stored collected plastic, metal and paper before selling to the recyclers. Previously, Alam Flora had bought the glass collected by Tzu Chi for RM 0.20/kg where proceeds went to charity. After Alam Flora has terminated its glass collection activity, Tzu Chi has been donating the glass collected to MPK.

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Group 2:

Schools participating in the “Club 25” programme by MPK. These schools have established students’ environmental clubs which aimed to achieve a recycling rate of 25%. 15 schools have participated in the trial collection.

Group 3:

Hotels

Group 4:

Businesses such as restaurants, pubs and coffee houses. A total of 18 restaurants, bars and coffee houses along 4 selected streets (Jalan Kubang Buaya, Jalan Wong Ah Jang, Jalan Air Putih and Jalan Alor Akar) have participated in the trial collection.

In total, the trial glass collection has yielded 17.4 tonnes of glass.

Glass Collected from the Trial Collection (Nov 08 - Jan 09)8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Am

ount

of G

lass

Col

lect

ed(’0

00 k

g)

Nov 08 Dec 08 Jan 09 Month

Residential Area

School

Restaurant/ Pub

Amount of glass collected during the trial collection

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The following amount of glass was collected from the 4 different groups:

For Group 1 (households), MPK has collected approximately 15 tonnes of glass.

No LocationMonth (kg)

Total (kg)Nov 08 Dec 08 Jan 09

1 Taman Berjaya Permai 4,000 3,000 2,000 9,000

2 Kempadang Perdana 2,000 500 500 3,000

3 Tzu Chi 1,330 872 1,665 3,867

Total 7,330 4,372 4,165 15,867

For Group 2 (schools), MPK has collected approximately 812kg of glass.

No LocationMonth (kg)

Total (kg)Nov 08 Dec 08 Jan 09

1 S.M. Methodist 43 210 30 283

2 S.K. Sg. Isap 9 10 10 29

3 S.K. Cenderawasih 10 15 20 45

4 S.K. Beserah 10 42 30 82

5 Polisas 10 10 8 28

6 S.K. Kempadang 10 10 15 35

7 S.K. Sg. Soi 10 10 20 40

8 Past Ar Rahman 10 10 10 30

9 S.M. Beserah 10 10 10 30

10 S.K. Tok Sira 10 10 10 30

11 S.K. Sg. Lembang 20 10 10 40

12 S.K. Penor 10 10 10 30

13 S.K. Air Putih 10 10 10 30

14 S.K. Bukit Rangin 10 10 10 30

15 S.K. Assunta 20 10 20 50

Total 202 387 223 812

Group 3 (hotels) was eventually excluded because the hotels have informed the Project Committee that the hotel staff were privately collecting glass for recycling and the hotel management did not want to interfere with their practice.

For Group 4 (businesses), MPK has collected approximately 748kg of glass.

No LocationMonth (kg)

Total (kg)Nov 08 Dec 08 Jan 09

1 Mitra Band House 4 5 6 15

2 Mega KTV 80 75 35 190

3 Utro Bistro 8 6 3 17

4 Center Paint Café 0 6 2 8

5 New Mini Karaoke 0 5 2 7

6 Susu Bar Baru 0 6 3 9

7 Golden Air-Con Bar 0 4 4 8

8 Sakura Bar 0 3 4 7

9 New Taiwan Bar 0 5 3 8

10 Legenda KTV 0 6 4 10

11 G.R. Café 1 0 2 3

12 A.A. Budget Karaoke 350 20 30 400

13 Waves Café 5 0 3 8

14 Share Louage 11 5 0 16

15 Green Dragon Karaoke 20 5 5 30

16 Best 11 Karaoke 0 2 0 2

17 Bistro 911 0 3 4 7

18 Audrey KTV Lounge 0 2 1 3

Total 479 158 111 748

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Establishment of Glass Collection Centre

During the trial collection, the glass was brought to the MPK temporary Glass Collection Centre at the MPK premises. 2 existing roll-on/roll-off (RO-RO) containers were used for storing the collected glass.

A critical factor in making glass collection economically viable is the ability to store the collected glass until it reaches a certain amount (approximately 10 tonnes) before it is transported away. Therefore, MPK decided that a Glass Collection Centre should be established prior to initiating the permanent collection. A location within the premise of the mechanical section of the council at Jalan Bukit Ubi was identified for the centre. A detailed design of the centre was prepared and the cost of construction was estimated. The construction of the centre commenced on 17 October 2008 and was completed by December 2008. The centre consisted of a wall-less shelter equipped with glass storage bins.

Glass Collection Centre

On 29 March 2009, the Yang Dipertua of MPK, Y.H. Dato’ Azizan bin Ahmad officially launched the Glass Collection Centre at the MPK complex. A total of 100 participants from MPK, Department of Education, teachers from schools, NGOs, residents’ associations and media attended the launching event.

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Launching of the Glass Collection Centre in MPK by Yang Dipertua Y.H. Dato’ Azizan bin Ahmad

The operation of the Glass Collection Centre involved 2 workers from the Council Recycling Unit who manually crushed the glass by using large hammers. This was performed because crushed glass will take up significantly less space as compared to uncrushed glass, allowing MPK to store larger volume of glass at the centre before transporting it to the recyclers and hereby, optimising the transportation costs. Throughout the operation, the workers were equipped with protective gears such as rubber boots, masks, goggles, gloves and ear protectors.

Subsequently, a glass crushing machine was purchased in order to mechanise and speed-up the glass crushing activity and to reduce the health and injury risks for the workers. At the same time, the Recycling Unit hired 2 additional workers. One of them was attached to the Recycling Unit to manage the glass crushing machine and store the glass at the MPK collection centre while the other worker was attached to receive incoming calls.

When the storage containers at the Glass Collection Centre were full, MPK coordinated with PUM Cullet to deliver the mixed glass to its collection hub at Meru, Klang Valley. During the trial collection, 2 trips with 1.75 tonnes and 8.9 tonnes of glass respectively were delivered. From their collection hub, PUM Cullet used its own vehicle to transport the glass to their factory in Pasir Gudang, Johor.

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Implementation of Permanent Glass Collection Programme

After the trial glass collection and the construction of the Glass Collection Centre, MPK designed and implemented a permanent glass collection programme. For this purpose, 200 2-wheeled bins (120 litre) and 100 drum bins (100 litre) were purchased. The plastic bags used during the preliminary glass collection were replaced with new wheeled glass collection bins.

As shown in the following table, MPK identified 175 collection sites from 13 different categories of generators. Each site was provided with 1-2 bins for glass collection. The sites included 14 residential areas, governmental offices, schools, office buildings, restaurants, petrol stations, industries, etc.

Location and amount of bins originally deployed for MPK glass collection

Location No. of binGovernmental Offices 15

Schools and Educational Centres 34

Petrol Stations 20

Workers’ Quarters 15

Office/Business Areas 7

Public Area 12

Residential Area 14

Industrial Area 30

Alam Flora’s Children Programme (KITS) 30

Buy-back Centres 44

Alam Flora’s Programme for Households (Waste-wise) 8

Pusat Belian Harian, MPK Office 1

Pubs/Restaurants 20

Total 250

In total, 250 bins were deployed. The remaining 50 bins were stored at the Glass Collection Centre for future use.

For Alam Flora’s Children Programme (KITS) and Alam Flora’s Programme for Households (Waste–wise), the glass were not collected by MPK as Alam Flora was carrying out the programmes on its own. Thus, the amount of glass collected was not accounted for in the MPK permanent glass collection programme.

Glass collection carried out under the 2 Alam Flora programmes

Location No. of binAlam Flora’s Children Programme (KITS) 30

Alam Flora’s Programme for Households (Waste–wise) 8

Total 38

In some areas, non-compliance with the sorting requirements was realised as an issue. Organic matter, plastic, paper and metal were occasionally dropped into the glass recycling bins and thus, requiring MPK to spend extra time to sort the glass.

As the programme progressed, MPK further realised that only very little glass was collected from residential areas and governmental offices, among others.

Therefore, MPK decided to remove the bins from these categories and concentrated on glass collection from schools, educational centres and pubs/restaurants. Tzu Chi continued glass collection from the residential areas which were previously serviced by them and continued to deliver the glass to the MPK Glass Collection Centre.

Permanent glass collection programme carried out by MPK

Location No. of binSchools and Educational Centres 34

Pubs/Restaurants 20

Total 54

To undertake the collection, MPK further expanded their existing Recycling Unit by hiring a driver. An existing MPK truck was made available for the programme. Once every fortnight, the glass collection team visited each site to collect the glass. The collection was divided into 2 half-day collection rounds where the glass from approximately 27 bins was collected per collection round. In addition, the staff used 2 hours to crush the glass per half day collection. In total, MPK has used approximately 1.5 working days per fortnight collection.

The total amount of glass collected in the 12-month period from 1 May 2009 to 30 April 2010 has amounted to 20 tonnes or an average of 1.7 tonnes per month.

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Total Glass Collected (1 May 09 - 30 April 10)2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0

Am

ount

of G

lass

(kg)

May09 Jun09 Jul09 Aug09 Sep09 Oct09 Nov09 Dec09 Jan10 Feb10 Mar10 Apr10

School Restaurant/Pub Tzu Chi

Glass Collection from May 2009 to April 20102,000

1,600

1,200

800

400

0

Am

ount

of G

lass

(kg)

May09 Jun09 Jul09 Aug09 Sep09 Oct09 Nov09 Dec09 Jan10 Feb10 Mar10 Apr10

The amount of glass collected seems to be reasonably stable. The high amount of glass collected from schools in the first month can be attributed to the glass collection competition held at schools as described below.

The amount of glass collected was considerably lower than the amount collected during the trial collection. As an example, schools and pubs/restaurants each contributed approximately 1/3 of the amount collected during the trial collection. This underlines the need for continuous awareness-creation to sustain such collection system for source-sorted waste. However, the decline was also caused by the fact that the pubs/restaurants, similarly to the hotels, have become aware of the value of used glass and therefore, started delivering them to other agents. In this case, the glass was still being recycled even though the amount did not appear in the MPK statistics. Alam Flora, as described above, also continued collecting the glass from their programmes without delivering the glass to the MPK collection system.

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School Glass Recycling Campaign

To enhance the participation rate from schools, MPK decided to organise a competition on glass recycling among the schools. The competition was carried out during the 3-month period from March-May 2009 where each school was required to collect as much glass as possible. The schools mandated their respective “Club 25” to organise the collection for the competition. For each participating school, 25 primary school students (year 4-year 6) were also required to plan for a safe and efficient method for glass collection for the school. The winner of the competition was the school which had contributed the highest amount of glass collected in weight.

Talks and presentations to the school teachers on the glass collection competition

A briefing by MPK on the glass recycling competition was held on 12 February 2009 to 59 schools which had established a “Club 25”. The briefing focussed on the glass collection programme, details of the competition, information on the types of glass which were accepted by the programme and the necessary precautionary measures to be taken when collecting glass. On the following day, MPK distributed the participation forms for the competition to all schools with “Club 25”, including the schools which were absent during the briefing. A total of 20 schools subsequently submitted the participation forms to MPK and eventually, 13 schools have participated actively in the competition.

Throughout the competition, MPK collected glass from the schools every fortnight and recorded the amount of glass collected. A total of 2,500kg of glass was collected. The winner, Sekolah Kebangsaan Kempadang was awarded with a challenge trophy and a school trip to the glass recycler, PUM Cullet in Pasir Gudang, Johor. The amount collected from the individual schools is presented in the following table.

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In order to increase the amount of glass collected, the winner had organised an internal collection competition for glass and plastic bottles. The internal competition was opened to the students of year 4-year 6, special classes and the teachers of the school. The competition was organised into 3 different categories, i.e. classroom, individual student and individual teacher. The winner from each category was determined by the quantity of bottles collected. Bottles were received and counted at noon on every Friday. The bottles were then stored at a temporary collection centre at the school until collection. Prizes were given to the top 3 winners for the classroom category and to the best for each of the individual student and individual teacher category.

A prize-giving ceremony was organised on 16 June 2009. The Director General of the Department of National Solid Waste Management, YBhg. Dato’ Dr. Nadzri bin Yahaya, Yang Dipertua Y.H. Dato’ Azizan bin Ahmad, MPK and the Department of Education, Kuantan District, En. Rosdi bin Ismail were invited to the ceremony. A total of 500 participants attended the event, including students from the participating schools and representatives from the organisations involved such as the residents’ associations. Alam Flora, PUM Cullet and MPK delivered talks on recycling in general and on glass recycling in particular.

Results from inter-school glass collection competition

No LocationMonth (kg) To t a l

(kg) No LocationMonth (kg) To t a l

(kg)Mar Apr May Mar Apr May1 S.K. Kempadang 237 329 515 1,081 14 S.K. Tanjung 0 0 0 0

2 S.K. Assunta 0 0 63 63 15 S.K. Chung Ching 0 0 0 0

3 S.K. St. Thomas 0 0 20 20 16 S.K. Bukit Trangin 0 0 0 0

4 S.K. Jaya Gading 0 154 0 154 17 S.K. Mat Kilau 0 0 0 0

5 S.K. Kuala Penor 0 51 117 168 18 S.K. Teruntum 0 0 0 0

6 S.K. Cherating 0 27 0 27 19 S.K. (C) Chung Chin 0 0 0 0

7 S.K. Air Putih 0 137 71 208 20 S.K. Soi 0 0 0 0

8 S.K. Nadak 0 146 0 146 21 S.K. Batu 3 0 0 0 0

9 S.K. Sg. Lembing 0 356 0 356 22 S.K. Indra Makhota 0 0 0 0

10 S.K. Semambu 0 233 0 233 23 S.K. Pancing 0 0 0 0

11 S.K. Tanah PutihBaru 0 18 0 18 24 S.K. Permatang

Badak 0 0 0 0

12 S.K. Sg. Isap 0 14 0 14 25 S.K. Sultan Abdullah 0 0 0 0

13 S.K. KampungPadang 0 18 0 18 Total 2,506

Prize-giving ceremony

The visit to PUM Cullet and Malayan Glass in Pasir Gudang, Johor was conducted on 16-18 August 2009. A total of 5 teachers, 25 students from the winning school and 10 officers from MPK took part in the tour. The visits gave the participants a clear insight in the glass recycling process. The General Manager of PUM Cullet further delivered an interesting talk to the participants on glass recycling practice in Malaysia.

Visit to PUM Cullet

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Survey on Waste Separation and Recycling Habits Among Students

To measure the effect of the glass collection completion in the schools on the waste separation and recycling practices among students, MPK came up with a questionnaire survey on waste separation and recycling practices. The questionnaire form was handed out during the prize-giving ceremony. A total of 196 students responded to the survey by filling-in and submitting the forms.

The survey clearly demonstrated the effect of the glass collection programme as glass had become the most recycled item among the students. Containers for sauces and bottled drinks were among the items most frequently recycled. The most recycled item was glass and followed by aluminum, paper, batteries and yard waste.

When it comes to bringing the glass collected from the households to the schools, a majority of the students took precautions such as wrapping the glass with old newspapers or plastic bags when bringing the glass as advised during the briefings for the schools. However, there were still a small number of students who did not take such precautions.

Most of the respondents have understood the concept of waste separation and recycling. 48% of them described recycling as the separation of wet (kitchen) waste from the dry waste. 23% explained that recycling was about reusing items that were being disposed of while another 5% described recycling as selling of old newspapers.

46% of the respondents explained that the reason to carry out recycling was to reduce the amount of waste being disposed of. 32% stated that the reason was to protect the environment while 5% of them explained that the purpose was to gain additional income.

Other answers from the respondents clearly indicated that in order to increase the rate of recycling, improved awareness was required. In addition, other answers demonstrated that the location of recycling centres and the type of recyclables which were acceptable need to be made better known to the public.

Aluminium 33%

Paper 24%

Glass 37%Battery 2%

Yard Waste 4%

Items recycled from the households

Costing Experience for the Collection ProgrammeOperational costs of trial collection and delivery

Based on the trial collection, MPK has estimated the operational costs for the glass collection programme. The estimation has assumed that a collection truck from the existing MPK Recycling Unit was made available. The labour force needed for the trial glass collection, crushing and storage was 1 driver and 4 general workers. All staff were remunerated at a daily wage according to the figures in the following table which has amounted to RM 87.50 per day.

The daily cost of labour

Rate/Day (RM) Unit Sub-Total (RM)

DriverGeneral Worker

17.5017.50

14

17.5070.00

Total 87.50

The collection included crushing of glass and storing them at the MPK Recycling Centre. During the trial collection, all collection sites were visited on the same day with a bi-monthly collection schedule. In total, 2 labour days were required per month for the assigned staff, amounting to RM 175 per month.

The cost of transporting the collected glass to Meru, Klang Valley is presented in the following table. It was assumed that the trip can be accomplished in one day and only require a driver and a general worker. The fuel and highway toll were calculated based on the 2 trips performed during the trial collection period. The total cost of transportation amounted to RM 405. The truck used for the transportation was capable of carrying 12-15 tonnes of glass per trip.

The cost of transporting glass to Meru, Klang Valley

Rate/Day (RM) Unit Sub-Total (RM)

DriverGeneral Worker

Fuel for TransportHighway Toll

17.5017.50

14

17.5070.00

250.00120.00

Total 405.00

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The total yield of glass from the trial collection was approximately 17.4 tonnes which amounted to an average of 5.8 tonnes per month.

Assuming that the collected glass was delivered to Meru, Klang Valley once every 3 months, the following operational cost was incurred:

Operational cost of glass collection and delivery to Meru, Klang Valley for a 3-month period

Income generated from the collected glass for a period of 3 months

Cost RM per 3 months (1 trip) Description RM/tonneCollectionTransportation

525.00405.00

Glass collectedPrice of mixed glass

17.4 tonneRM 100 per tonne

Total 930.00 (3 months) Total Income RM 1,740.00

Net revenue was RM 1,740 – RM 930 = RM 810 or approximately RM 270 per month.

The trial collection suggested that the activity was financially viable as long as the facilities such as truck, storage centre and crushing machine were available and therefore, need not be included in the calculation.

The economy for the subsequent permanent collection system is presented in the following table.

Total cost of setting up and operating a glass collection system

Capital Cost Cost per Unit Quantity Sub-TotalGlass Collection ShedBinsProtective Gears for Glass CrushingAwareness-creating Posters on Glass Recyling

17,710.00200.00

2,830.003.00

181

1000

17,710.00 16,000.00 2,830.00 3,000.00

Total Capital Cost 39,540.00

Operational Cost for Collection and Storage Cost per Unit Quantity Sub-TotalDriverGeneral WorkersSupervisorsOfficerFuel (Diesel)

17.5017.5020.0020.001.75

262210

35.00105.0040.0040.0035.00

Total Operational Cost per Month 255.00

Operational Cost - Round Trip from Kuantan to Klang Valley Sub-TotalFuelTollStaff Costs

250.00120.0035.00

Total Operational Cost per Trip 405.00

The total capital cost for setting up the glass collection centre has reached RM 39,540. The capital cost for the collection was not estimated as a collection truck was assumed to be available from the existing recycling team of the council.

Operational cost for the collection, storage and transportation was estimated at RM 390 per month, assuming one trip to Meru, Klang Valley in every 3 months.

During the permanent collection, MPK was able to collect approximately 1.7 tonnes of glass per month from the 54 bins deployed at various sites. At a sales value of RM 100 per tonne, MPK was only able to generate RM 170 per month. This amount was not enough to account for the collection and transportation cost. The operations have generated a monthly deficit of RM 390 - RM 170 = RM 220 which has to be provided by MPK in order to sustain the system.

However, the economy can be improved by reducing the frequency of transporting the glass to Meru, Klang Valley as only 5.1 tonnes was collected in 3 months. In the future, the economy is expected to improve significantly as saved alternative disposal cost is expected to be a major economic factor. Currently, most disposal sites charge only minor gate-fees. This is, however, expected to change when the new national legislation and the establishment of modern environmentally-safe treatment and disposal facilities are fully implemented in the near future.

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Challenges and Lessons Learnt

The collection system for used glass has been very successful, especially for schools and pubs/restaurants. The experience has highlighted the need for strong and continuous awareness-raising to keep such system sustainable. The residential areas involved in the trial collection were active and provided large amounts of glass, probably due to the intense awareness-raising campaigns carried out prior to and during the trial period. However, collection in the residential areas had only limited success when expanded broadly to a large number of residential areas during the permanent collection. The collection from schools was very successful. This is clearly due to the high focus that was put on the schools among others through the school competition. The broad distribution of bins to a wide number of institutional, commercial and industrial sources, on the other hand, had only limited success probably due to the limited awareness activity that was possible at each site as the number of collection sites were increased. However, the success was larger than that registered by the MP Kuantan programme. Glass collection at hotels and pubs/restaurants have increased although these businesses disposed off the collected glass through other channels. Alam Flora has also disposed of the used glass collected through their programmes themselves.

These experiences have highlighted the high demand for continuous awareness-creation and networking to sustain such collection systems currently. To change the attitudes and make source-sorting and recycling a natural part of daily life for every citizen in Malaysia, the Local Authorities are required to continue such collection effort and awareness creation for a long time to come.

Most recycling practices in Malaysia today are directed towards materials that contain an economic value and most recycling is based on some level of pay-back. Glass collection in Kuantan is directed towards collection of materials for which the economic value is not big enough to pay the generators for delivering the materials to the system. Starting to move down this avenue is very important for the future environment. Kuantan has taken a first brave step but it will take a long time before this becomes a general practice all over Malaysia.

Glass recycling in Malaysia is still in its infancy and collection systems for glass are still few and far apart. Despite the lower production costs for glass bottles when using recycled glass and the obvious business potential that lies herein, price for recycled glass currently remains very modest.

As MPK was already operating a Recycling Unit with its own financial allocation, the collection cost for glass recycling was absorbed into the existing operational cost of the Recycling Unit. The establishment of glass collection was a straight forward process which the Unit could easily absorb into their daily operational activities.

The programme has revealed that glass collection is not financially sustainable under the current collection circumstances. Setting the average monthly income of RM 170 against the total operating expenses of RM 390, the volume of glass collected was not large enough to make the collection economically viable. However, this limited deficit was not considered a major obstacle by MPK. Despite the need for subsidy, MPK found it important to continue the glass recycling. This was primarily because MPK has perceived recycling as an additional value to the citizens’ quality of life. A clean and neat urban environment is important with respect to health, pollution and aesthetics. Even though these values are difficult to be assessed in economic terms, they are imperative to all people’s welfare.

The economy of the glass collection is further expected to improve in the future. An immediate improvement can be achieved by reducing the frequency of the transfer to Klang Valley and the collection will be even more economically attractive in the future when alternative disposal costs are expected to increase dramatically.

In other areas located closer to the user, the financial situation will also be better due to reduced transfer costs.

The Committee of the Recycling Unit

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Recommendations

MPK has gained invaluable experiences from the “Public participation in glass collection centre in Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan” project. None of the challenges encountered during the project duration was insurmountable and in general, MPK has considered the project a success.

Success, however, does not emerge without proper planning, networking and support from relevant stakeholders.

Based on the experiences from the project, MPK recommends that:

Glass recycling should take place in all communities.1.

(a) Where communities produce too small volume of glass or is located too far away from the recycling facilities, the collection may need minor subsidising.

(b) At large urban areas located within a reasonable distance from the recycling facilities, glass collection and recycling may be economically self-sustaining.

Stakeholders’ involvement must already take place at the idea-formulation stage in order to ensure a successful 2. project outcome as this initiates networking, cross-sectoral collaboration and support.

Provision of recycling infrastructure and awareness programmes (bins, awareness-creating posters and awareness 3. talks) must be given a high priority as it is imperative to successful glass recycling. The public and local business communities will be committed to glass recycling only as long as the necessary facilities are present.

Awareness on the proper usage of glass collection bins is critical as misuse of bins for other waste types is a 4. problem encountered in the glass recycling programme.

Regular collection and/or replacement of recycling bins must be vigorously exercised and coordinated. Late or 5. sporadic collection will result in overflowing or damaged bins which will create a bad precedence for the end users. This, in turn, will have negative consequences on the public’s motivation to support glass recycling as well as other recycling programmes.

Sufficient storage space must be made available for the collected glass and cullet.6.

Recycling awareness programmes for schools should take place regularly in order to ensure that the future 7. generations are committed to prudent waste disposal and recycling processes. This can be incorporated into the school curriculum.

Coordination and liaison with the glass recycler is essential to ensure proper off-take of the collected glass.8.

Support from the Governmental agencies such as Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health and MHLG are really 9. needed to enhance the programmes and to ensure they are recognised nationwide.

Financial allocation for programme campaigns must be part of the yearly budget for the organisation to enable 10. activities such as glass collection competition among schools as well as other groups or entities to take place.

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CARRIED OUT BY:Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan

FUNDED BY:Solid Waste Management Component (SWMC)Community Initiative and Educational FundDANIDA

CONSULTANT:COWI A/S

RESPONSIBLE ENTITY:Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan

AUTHORS:Carl TraeholtChen Saw Ling

PUBLISHED BY:Department of National Solid Waste ManagementMinistry of Housing and Local GovernmentLevel 2 & 4, Block B North, Pusat Bandar Damansara50644 Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaTel: +603 2092 4488Fax: +603 2093 5982www.kpkt.gov.my

PRINTED BY:Meridian Solutions1st EditionNovember 2010 1,000 Copies

GLASS RECYCLING IN KUANTAN

EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL FOR

INCREASING RECYCLING BY COLLECTION OF

SOURCE SORTED GLASSIN KUANTAN

and Local GovernmentDanish International

Development AssistanceMajlis Daerah

Kuantan

Printed on Recycled PaperMinistry of Housing