Jotun today announced the completion of a RM 3-million green initiative to generate clean energy with the installation of solar panels for its coatings factory in Nilai, Seremban. The project features 2,236 solar panels installation and was recently completed. The effort outlines the company’s commitment to implementing sustainable steps to protect a greener and sustainable environment.
“At Jotun, we are constantly looking for ways to make a difference in the world we all share. As we take continuous steps to protect your property with our paint, we also take steps to protect our environment better with our paint production,” said Claudio Iurilli, Managing Director, Jotun Malaysia and Singapore.
The production facility in Nilai is one of Jotun’s largest manufacturing plants for solvent-based paints and powder coatings in Southeast Asia to date, measuring at 93,000m2 of land. The plant was established in 2011 and was built as a solvent-based paint manufacturing facility and expanded with a new powder coating factory in 2017. Currently, the factory can produce up to 40 million liters of solvent-based paints per annum. In addition, it can also produce up to 6000 metric tonnes of powder coatings per annum.
The installation of solar panels at this facility will generate up to 1.3 gigawatts hours of clean energy, as much as 22 per cent of its annual energy needs. At the same time, it will reduce carbon dioxide emission by an estimated 920 tonnes per year. “Our work towards removing energy waste and reducing carbon footprint will help create a shared sustainable future for our customers, employees and the community at large,” Iurilli continues.
“Nilai factory is the first to implement this as part of our regional plan to have all Jotun factories in Southeast Asia and Pacific generating 20% of their electricity consumption through renewable energy, by 2024,” added Regional Engineering Manager, Huck Tee Tan.
The Jotun GreenSteps programme aims to make a difference through energy-saving and reducing waste generation. The company recently launched two other programs to bring down its waste disposal percentage and is continuously looking for options to reduce environmental impact, such as recycling solvent, reducing plastic waste and more.
Other initiatives include replacing lighting requirements with energy-saving LED lighting and automatic timers on electricity across various factories. Jotun also works with certified audited waste disposal companies to ensure safe and proper decomposed waste is generated without compromising the environment.
