NEXTGREEN Global Bhd (NGGB) entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with three partners, to build and set up 20 centralised collection centres for more sustainable, efficient and cost-effective collection and disposed of oil palm waste.
The MoU signing is a strategic alliance between NGGB with Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corp (MGTC), national investment cooperative Koperasi Sahabat Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia Bhd (KOOP Sahabat), as well as Koperasi Perkhidmatan Setia Bhd (Kosetia).
Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Medac), Tan Sri Noh Omar said the collection centres will serve as a onestop centre for the collection of palm waste that can be processed into materials for the production of tissue paper, animal feed, fertiliser and more at NGGB developed Green Technology Park in Pekan, Pahang, will start operating in mid-February this year.
“The involvement of MGTC under the agency of the Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA) which is mandated to address climate change towards environmental sustainability is seen as a catalyst for the success of the project.
“I hope this planned effort will yield good results for the benefit of all operations in Malaysia,” the minister said.
NGGB’s MD Datuk Lim Thiam Huat said the company plans to implement a centralised collection centre system to collect oil palm waste in the form of empty fruit bunches (EFB), which will then be converted into pulp and processed into various paper products for the paper industry and end-consumer markets.
He said the objective of the collection centres was to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases in transporting of FFB from oil palm mills and to reduce the transport costs by becoming more cost-effective in the transportation of raw materials.
“As an investment holding company, NGGB has been advocating sustainability to achieve its vision of being Malaysia’s Most Innovative Green Technology company.
“As a sustainable organisation, we have a role responding to the government’s call to spur the green economy while taking this step to address global climate change issues. We have been gradually converting to green technology in the pulp and paper manufacturing sector,” Lim said.
NGGB intends to offer its green technology and zero waste expertise in the construction, development and commissioning of the 20 oil palm waste collection and processing centres throughout Malaysia, in locations with an abundance of oil palm plantations and mills.
The GTP and its core waste to paper project has been the catalyst for the rise in NGGB’s share price from 40 sen in early March 2021 to a historic high of RM1.34 in late October last year.
The company’s stock price closed at RM1.05 on Monday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM805.6 million.
Chairman of Koop Sahabat, Najib Mohd Noor said it welcomes any proposals and opportunities for strategic cooperation related to the green economy with this venture its first involvement in the field of the green economy.
He said the palm oil industry’s waste needs to be disposed of in an orderly manner and this effort with NGGB can open up opportunities of generating income for the producers.
Source : The Malaysian Reserve