Project Report
| Feb 19, 2023
Glass Recycling by Dive Operator
By Chen Sue Yee | Programme Manager
It is very heart-warming to see business operator on the island taking the initiative to take care of the environment – their very source of income. Recently, a dive shop on Tioman Island, B&J Diving Centre, borrow our glass crushing machine to crush over 30 wheelbarrows of glass bottles that they have collected.
The machine takes in glass (bottles and etc), crushes them and they will come out into tiny pieces mimicking the sands. The ‘sands’ can then be used for construction and other purposes.
Everyone from the dive shop had worked hard in this recycling project. From cleaning the bottles, to peeling off labels, and on to packing them. Well-done to the team!
Feb 6, 2023
Solar Powered Mantanani Plastic Recycling Centre
By Chen Sue Yee | Programme Manager
We have a little recycling centre on Mantanani Island, Sabah, called the Mantanani Plastic Recycling Centre (MPRC). All the collected waste will be sorted at the MPRC either to be sent to the landfill or recycled.
Aligning with our goal to make it sustainable, we embarked on a solar installation project for the MPRC. In August 2022, the solar system was installed. The solar system covers our filed offices, recycling centre and Virgin Coconut Oil processing factory. However, it was not enough to power all the machines. It was only sufficient to power fans, lightbulbs, field offices and several machines in the VCO building.
Recently, the solar system was upgraded and it can now power the Baler machine and the extruder machine used for recycling. This means that the MRC is fully solar-powered.
Together, we can achieve great things. We thank you for being on this journey with us. Step by step, we will get far. Your kindness and continuous support will light the way.
Jan 16, 2023
Mooring Buoy Installation and Maintenance
By Chen Sue Yee | Programme Manager
Anchors from boats can cause considerable damage to coral reefs, including breakage, fragmentation and direct injury to the reef ecosystem. Additionally, anchors and chains can break or dislodge corals, sponges and sea fans, resulting in immediate and long-term damage to large areas of the coral reef. Some coral species only 1cm per year, therefore it can take many years for some coral to recover from an anchoring incident. Anchoring also causes immediate and extensive damage on reef-associated habitats such as seagrass beds, which are important nursery and juvenile habitats for many species. A mooring buoy floats in water to which boats can be moored. Mooring buoys are therefore essential to marine tourism as they discourage boats from dropping their anchors.
The Tioman Marine Conservation Group from Tioman Island inspects existing mooring buoys regularly and installs new mooring buoys and fixes broken mooring buoys when needed. Over the last 13 months, the team together with Reef Check Malaysia had installed and fixed a total of 13 mooring buoys.
Further down south from Tioman Island, Reef Check Malaysia aided in the installation of mooring buoys at Harimau and Hujung islands with the help of Besar Island’s community. It is hoped that these mooring buoys will help to reduce the impacts of anchoring on the reefs.