In 2022, we started the project in Ban Foo, a small village in Johor without government-provided waste disposal services. The wastes are burned/buried in the village causing pollution. Upon understanding their waste disposal challenge, we took the matters to discussion during JCI JBE meeting. We studied the impact of mindless waste disposal and dive into the root of the issues to find sustainable solutions.

We reached out to environmental engineering corporates in Johor to discuss with them the waste management challenges at Ban Foo village and seek advice for a sustainable solution to help the village. Upon discussion, Top flow Engineering Sdn Bhd came up with the idea to compost wastes to help reduce waste and repurpose the wastes into useful fertilizers. A composting machine was placed at SJK (C) Ban Foo. The villagers are educated to segregate their waste, prepare their food waste for collection, and compost the food waste into fertilizers (recycle).

The composted fertilizers were used in multiple purposes: for the school canteen to grow vegetable crops, for the school’s greenhouse to grow plants, and for sale to other farmers. The profit from the sale of fertilizers is donated back to the school as a school maintenance fund.

In 2023, we are expanding the successful model implemented in Ban Foo village to four other schools and signing Memoranda of Understanding with them. This step ensures that the schools responsibly utilize the food waste composting machines we’ve fundraised for and adhere to the Waste To Green activity guidelines.

We have chosen to collaborate with these five schools because of their significant roles within the region. In 2024, we focus on cooperating with schools, and also collect feedback from schools on the use of food waste composting machines and empower the sustainable development goal.