Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) Sdn Bhd bagged a total of four awards at the prestigious National Energy Awards (NEA) 2021 and coveted Star Outstanding Business Awards (SOBA) 2021. The collective wins reaffirms the company’s endeavours to step up its sustainability agenda, in line with the circular economy approach.
The national sewerage company was named the winner of the National Energy Awards (NEA) 2021 and the ASEAN Energy Awards (AEA) 2021 in the Energy Management in Small & Medium Industry and Energy Efficiency in Small and Medium Industries categories respectively.
The awards representing both national and ASEAN levels, recognised IWK’s achievements in the Putrajaya 1 Regional Sewage Treatment Plant. It measured the company’s success in implementing sustainable energy management systems and practices to enhance efficiencies and reduce cost.
At SOBA 2021, IWK bagged two silvers for the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Green Initiative Awards categories.
The CSR Award honoured IWK’s unceasing community engagement initiatives, especially during the pandemic and when the flood disaster struck the country. On the other hand, the Green Initiative Award recognised IWK’s innovative efforts in integrating the environmental agenda in its processes, programmes, and overall running of the business.
Chief Executive Officer of IWK, Narendran Maniam said, “IWK is taking bold steps toward the circular economy agenda and continues to innovate to improve on operational efficiencies and effectiveness to protect the environment, public health and ensure financial sustainability as well.”
“These innovations are crucial as IWK faces challenges relating to rising inflation costs, disparity between IWK charges and operational costs, as well as increased energy consumption,” he continued.
IWK maintains more than 7,000 sewage treatment plants that serve more than 26 million population equivalent (PE). The company treats more than 6,000 million litres of wastewater a day, with its sewage treatment plants operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The treatment process is robust and with the rising operational expenditures, it provides a challenge for IWK to continue to effectively treat the wastewater before the final effluent is released into the river or waterbodies.
“Despite the challenges, we remain focused on creating positive impact. Through our flagship IWK Cares CSR programme, IWK has supported and implemented various community engagement activities that focus on environmental protection and public health preservation,” said Narendran Maniam.
IWK partnered with the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) to expand the urban forest project Khazanah Rimba in IWK Eco Park, Pantai Dalam, Kuala Lumpur. Together, both IWK and MNS introduced the “Adopt a Tree” donation campaign, where people can donate a tree or more, which will be planted at IWK Eco Park and maintained by MNS.
IWK is also a ‘Friends of River’ supporter – a national project where companies work together in cleaning the rivers around the country.
In addition, IWK provide assistances to people affected by any unforeseen circumstances. In December 2021, IWK provided aid to community members who were severely affected by the flood, despite many of IWK’s plants were damaged by the disaster.
During the pandemic, IWK supported the frontliners by supplying crucial medical equipment including personal protective equipment (PPE) to various hospitals, army and police personal and media practitioner across Malaysia.
