Transforming 1000 Lives through Waste

After the inception of Waste Management Programme on Mantanani Island, the programme has created job opportunity to Mantanani locals. As of today, 10 locals are working under this programme as Daily Waste Collection Team. While some joined the programme as their source of income, there are a few who joined to gain more experience and knowledge.

Working on the ground, they witnessed what the programme has done for their village. They hope that the communities will continue to give their supports and be more discipline in segregating their wastes. They also hope that the programme will be continued for the cleanliness and future of their beloved island.

In an effort to encourage the locals on Mantanani Island to continue participating in our Waste Management Programme, we organised “Best Performance Award” to instil healthy competition amongst our participants to do better in managing their wastes.  

Participants efforts were evaluated daily by our waste collection team. Criteria evaluated were waste generated, level of waste segregation and participation. Analysis of the evaluation data is conducted annually and the award is given out yearly.

A total of 11 households were awarded the “Best Performance in Year 2020”, for being in top 7 and with score above 90% for their efforts.

We hope the locals will continue to manage their wastes and become natural to them.

In order to track the efficiency of Waste Management Programme which was introduced to Mantanani Island in April 2020, we conducted an interview survey with our participants recently. Out of 164 households, we managed to interview 137 of them.

The results are as below:

• 99% understand the purpose of Waste Management Programme.
• 91% think the cleanliness of their environment has improved.
• 26% believe that there are still people in the community who throw their trash into the sea or on the beach.
• 100% agree that the Waste Management Programme has improve their quality of life and should be continued.
• 100% agree that the implementation of Waste Management Programme is easy.
• 90% face no difficulties in participating in the Waste Management Programme.

Through the interview, we also learn of our shortcomings which are:

• Insufficient bins
• Inappropriate bin size for bigger household
• Inappropriate bin for food waste

Nevertheless, the result of the interview survey is very encouraging and we will work on our shortcomings.

Thank you once again for your donation and making this programme possible.

Plastic waste is a nagging problem on Mantanani Island and every year we collected an average of 22 tonnes of plastic waste. In our bid to reduce plastic waste on Mantanai Island, Reef Check Malaysia is working together with Mantanani communities to turn some of these plastic wastes into handicrafts, while the rest are being recycled.

Mantanani locals were given workshops and taught how to turn used plastic bottle caps into fridge magnets handicrafts. What is more encouraging is the locals taught themselves how to turn used single-use-plastic into wallets and bracelets.

These handicrafts are gaining popularity and they are now being sold as souvenirs to tourists who visit Mantanani and even to buyers from around Malaysia.

Thank you for your donations. Without your support and generosity, this effort would not have been possible.

Our team on Mantanani Island, Sabah started the new year strong and proud. On 5 January 2021, they alongside the local members sent 753kg worth of plastic bottles out to the recycling facility on mainland, Kota Kinabalu.

The great news is that the local community is doing an amazing job in recycling their waste and we got RM150.60 in revenue from the recyclables this trip.

The not-so-great news is that land transportation cost RM120, boat transportation and labour cost us another RM1000.

This has been going on every 3-4 months since 2018 when the plastic bottles and waste get sent out to mainland. In 2020 itself, a total of 66,337 plastic bottles and 17,737kg worth of trash have been collected. The Waste Management Improvement Program we have in Mantanani has implemented a proper waste management system on a few villages with a total population of almost 1,000. Ultimately, we will continue leading and hope to inspire the community members in taking on this initiative themselves.

As you can see, currently there is no feasible and affordable way for the communuity members to do so, especially when it comes to waste transportation. The work has been challenging, but we have continued to make progress thanks to your support.

Your continued support has and will enable us to continue working with the community on the Waste Management Improvement Program and bring real change and solutions to the community on Mantanani Island.