Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd (LLSB), the developer of the Selangor Maritime Gateway (SMG) project and The Ocean Cleanup, the Dutch non-profit organisation developing and scaling technologies to rid the oceans of plastic, today announced that they will be exploring new opportunities to collaborate in cleaning Selangor’s rivers.
Both organisations are looking at higher impact end-to-end solutions to trap and remove floating debris found in rivers using a multi-pronged approach with advanced waste-to-shore and waste repurposing options, thus diverting it from landfills.
“We are excited about the possibilities to embed more sustainable practices into our operations including new ways to support our existing cleaning methodology in Sg Klang that can withstand strong currents, large volumes of water, and manage both organic and inorganic waste,” said YB Tuan Ir Izham Hashim, Chairman of LLSB during a special visit to The Ocean Cleanup’s Interceptor™ 005, that also saw the attendance of YAB Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari, the Menteri Besar of Selangor; Boyan Slat, the Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup; YAM Tengku Zatashah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah; YABhg Dato’ Setia Aubry Rahim Mennesson; H.E. Mr. Aart Jacobi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Malaysia; and Syaiful Azmen Nordin, Managing Director of LLSB.
YB Ir Izham further said that LLSB was currently working with the Selangor State Government and Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS) to identify the challenges present in other rivers in the state, that can benefit from the expertise of LLSB’s Integrated Water Resources Management Solutions and its partnership with The Ocean Cleanup. Selangor has gazetted 413 rivers, of which 33 have been listed by the Department of Environment as either slightly polluted or polluted.
Meanwhile YAB Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari welcomed The Ocean Cleanup’s continued interest in supporting Selangor’s intent in improving other rivers, with Sg Klang as its model. “Sg Klang exemplifies the impact that can be achieved through integrating global and local technology solutions with a strong government mandate and a progressive local management team to clean and revive a once ailing river.
“Today, Sg Klang is alive with aquatic flora and fauna, and we will continue to work on improving our river quality to ensure that Sg Klang is no longer one of the 10 most polluted rivers in the world,” YAB Dato’ Seri Amirudin said. Cleaning the floating debris is also the first phase by the state government’s initiative towards flood mitigation to increase the capacity of Sg Klang. “Sg Klang’s overall capacity has been seriously compromised due to prolonged siltation on its riverbed. Starting mid 2022 we will be focusing on returning Sg Klang to its original depth that will further increase its load capacity, which is required to deal with flooding issues.”
Boyan Slat, who is in Malaysia to visit Interceptor™ 005, The Ocean Cleanup’s second deployment on Sg Klang, shared his organisation’s commitment to make Sg Klang a model for river care in Asia and hopes to amplify this support over the next three years with a number of initiatives in the region, including in Bangkok, Thailand, and Johor, Malaysia.
The placement of Interceptor™ 005 in Sg Klang near Port Klang in October 2021 follows the success of Interceptor™ 002, which has been complementing LLSB’s seven log booms along 56km of the river under the SMG project since 2019. Interceptor™ 005, fully assembled in Malaysia, is the first third generation Interceptor™ Series production – the result of knowledge gained from past deployments to help improve its collection efficiency and ease of production.
Boyan explained that The Ocean Cleanup has enjoyed a highly collaborative and supportive relationship with LLSB and the Selangor State Government, which is a reason the Dutch NGO has chosen to “locate its assembly facility for future Interceptors and other river cleaning solutions in Port Klang, with the appointment of MHE-Demag Malaysia Sdn Bhd that will cater to our requirements in Asia.”
“There is a strong focus to make a change in river care here in Selangor and it aligns with The Ocean Cleanup’s aims to tackle 1,000 rivers around the world to stem 80% of the river plastic pollution flowing into the ocean,” he added.
Also lending her support to river care and the progress of reviving Sg Klang was YAM Tengku Zatashah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, founder of #SayNo2Plastic in Malaysia who emphasised the need for greater awareness and advocacy of the Malaysian people in putting an end to plastics that choke our rivers and oceans.
YAB Dato’ Seri Amirudin, LLSB’s management and its board, and Boyan Slat came together to lend their support for the #SayNo2Plastic movement in Malaysia today, in light of the expected spike in the use of plastic containers for food and beverage take-aways during the Ramadan month.
