Transforming 1000 Lives through Waste

The recyclables such as plastic bottles and aluminium cans from Mantanani Island have finally been shipped off and transported to the recycling centre on mainland! You will see the before and after shot of the Mantanani Plastic Recycling Centre below.

This time it was 542kg worth of plastic bottles and 619kg worth of metal cans collected since February this year.

With the population of roughly around 1,000, we do not have the resources or even the volume to set up a recycling facility here, so sending the recyclables off to mainland, Kota Belud, is the only feasible solution so far. And we can only do so every few months as boat and land transportation can be costly. Again, one of the challenges in recycling on a remote island.

Your donation makes a difference to the Mantanani community. Thank you for transforming the lives of the local community of Mantanani Island during this challenging season. 

Ineffective or no proper waste management at all can invite all sorts of issues to our lives.

Every month, our daily waste collection team on Mantanani Island, Sabah collects around 6000-7000 PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene) bottles. We also do collect other plastic recycables such as single-used straws, cups, and containers.

PET bottles such as our normal drinking plastic bottles take at least 450 years to completely degrade. PET is made to be used for one time only as exposure to heat and continuous washing may cause toxic chemicals to leach out from the plastics.

With the local ground water supply largely contaminated from salt intrusion and wastewater pollutants, the local community rely on bottled water for drinking and cooking, thus there is an unusually large amount of PET bottles on the island with a population of slightly more than a 1000.

At the end of the day, the plastic bottles collected from the islands will be stored in the Mantanani Plastic Recycling Centre (MPRC) which is handled by our team together with the local community.

As the transportation and labour cost to ship off the plastic bottles to the recycling centre on mainland to be recycled is very costly, the bottles are usually stored temporarily at our MPRC for about one to two months before it is shipped.

In order to maintain storage space and cleanliness of our MPRC, we have a baler machine to press together the plastic bottles, making it flat and easy to tie them together and store the bottles properly.

Thanks to your generous support and the incredible effort from all of our daily waste collection team, the Cintai Mantanani team, and the local community, we are able to continue to work towards making a positive impact on our environment and the community of Mantanani Island, Sabah, Malaysia.

We've officially passed the half year mark! We hope 2021 is going well for you so far.

As of June 2021, a total of 174 households with a population of 905 were involved in our daily waste collection in both villages on Mantanani Island - Kampung Siring Bukit and Kampung Padang.

Between January and June this year alone, 35,561.9kg of waste has been collected, preventing it from entering the ocean, or being burned or buried. The waste includes food, plastics, plastic bottles, glass, tin, and miscellaneous items.

With a workforce of only 10 and 905 participants from the community, this is a major milestone

“Before the programme, we had to throw all of our waste to the beach area. The environment was very unsightly and everyone had to clean the waste around their house every day.” said Noriazziah, a teacher from the local community. “I hope that the programme can continue as it brings positive changes to the island.”

With your support in this programme, the beautiful coasts and the land of Mantanani Island is being looked after and not piled up in trash. Thank you for making an impact not just for the health of the island communities, but also our marine life and ecosystems.

“Today, we produce about 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year. That’s nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population.” - UN Environment Programme 

It’s everywhere.  

Plastics are leaking into our ocean... affecting our marine life and the health of our ocean. Plastics are lightweight, cheap, and strong. However, we must consider that it takes years to break down depending on its material – from 20 years for a plastic bag to 450 years for a plastic bottle. 

On Mantanani Island in Sabah, our team have started an initiative to repurpose plastics into reusable products. 

Through the Waste Management Programme you support, HDPE/PP/LDPE plastics are collected by the local islanders, such as plastic bottle caps, toys, containers, straws, etc. 

After shredding plastics into smaller pieces, the plastics are melted and extruded into the mould we have. 

The products sold will be a local source of income to sustain the operation of Mantanani Plastic Recycling Centre (MPRC). 

So far, we've managed to create fridge magnets for sale on Mantanani Local Products (Facebook Page). Now, we are looking into creating more products out of these plastics. 

We sincerely thank you for your support and for taking action in making a change for the community of Mantanani Island. 

A world with our ocean is a world full of life.

Today on #WorldOceanDay, we are joining the world in celebrating and advocating for our ocean. And this year's theme being "The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods" couldn't be any more timely.

At Reef Check Malaysia, we've been working more closely with the local communities on Mantanani Island, and we've seen firsthand how the communities rely on the ocean for their livelihoods - food, income, security...

The Waste Management Programme was implemented to help provide the Mantanani local community a proper waste disposal system. Just this year alone, the Waste Management Team have collected a total of 28,734kg worth of trash. Imagine if this amount of trash were to enter into our ocean? 

If our ocean is polluted with marine debris and our marine life being threatened, the local island communities are the ones who would surely suffer.

While the programme aims to provide a waste disposal system to the community and reduce marine debris in our ocean, it also creates job opportunities and supports the livelihoods of the local communities on Mantanani. 

At the end of the day, if we want a healthy and restored ocean, we have to look after the interests of the local communities. And that means protecting our ocean AND the livelihoods of the communities who depend on the ocean.

This World Ocean Day, help us reach our goal in transforming the lives of the Mantanani local community through supporting our Waste Management Programme. Each small win will be a step forward in reimagining and restoring our ocean.