The rubbish truck collects Section 11 residents’ recyclable waste every Monday.
NINETEEN per cent of households have participated in the waste separation initiative in Section 11, Petaling Jaya six weeks into the launch of the project.
Of the 329 houses in Section 11, 62 have actively engaged in recycling their waste, corresponding to 19% of the total.
The project was launched last month by Petaling Jaya city councillor Lim Yi Wei and Bukit Gasing assemblyman R. Rajiv, and backed by the Section 11 Residents Association (RA).
Its main goal is to make residents separate their recyclables from non-recyclable waste.
The first stage involved distributing informative leaflets stating why residents should start recycling, as well as distributing plastic bags for the residents to place their recyclables.
The recycling truck goes through the neighbourhood on Monday mornings to pick up the items and place replacement bags in post boxes for the following week’s collection.
Lim said the statistics of recyclable waste collection for the first month was promising.
Before the project started, only 32kg of plastic, 16kg of paper, and 27kg of boxes were collected for recycling in April.
These numbers have increased to 121kg, 124kg and 139kg respectively for last month’s collection.
“The project’s next target is to boost the number of participating households to 30% over the next two months,” said Rajiv.
To achieve this, more leaflets will be distributed in Section 11, informing the residents on the types of waste that can be recycled and the project’s mechanics.
Banners reminding residents of the waste collection day will also be put up around the neighbourhood.
The Section 11 patrol team will also encourage more residents to take part in the initiative during its shift.
“Some residents have complained that they were not provided with replacement bags, hampering their willingness to recycle,” said Rajiv, adding that they could collect the bags from his office.
“Many residents were happy with the project, as it is in line with their environmental consciousness.”
Rajiv and Lim said they planned to extend the waste separation project to more neighbourhoods after Hari Raya.
Petaling Jaya neighbourhoods that are keen to join the waste separation initiative can contact Rajiv’s office at 03-7784 7490 or rajiv@selangor.gov.my
