KUALA LUMPUR: Universiti Malaya (UM) is set to become the nation’s first Zero Waste Campus in raising environmental awareness among its students.
The university’s vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Ghauth Jasmon said this would be achieved through the ‘Zero Waste Campaign’ introduced by UM’s Engineering Faculty for the last six months in collaboration with CIMB Foundation.
Under the campaign, 50 recycling bins were placed all over the residential colleges and faculties to enable the students and others alike to recycle items easily.
“Our over-reliance on land filling as a waste disposal method, the short distance between landfills and townships and the lack of sanitary landfills have caused inevitable carbon emissions and irreversible environmental damage,” he said at the launching of the campaign at UM here yesterday.
CIMB Foundation chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Shukri Hussin said the foundation was continuously looking to fund long-term community-linked projects that were viable and sustainable.
“The campaign gives us a refreshing perspective and we are indeed open to supporting the best young minds in the country keen to contribute towards the betterment of society,” he said.
Mohd Shukri said the university was also a good place to create environmental awareness.
“I hope this campaign will be a good example for other universities because we need to encourage the younger generation to help conserve the environment,” he added. — Bernama