This is indeed not a dream but reality, where eco-friendly utensils made of agricultural waste such as sugarcane and corn residue are to be launched in January in Penang.

Pursuant to the research that has been going on for more than four years, a Malaysian from Penang has successfully developed the technology of making eco-friendly utensils and biodegradable packaging with agricultural waste.

Photo: Sinchew Daily

In addition, with the support from local funds, he has set up a manufacturing plant in Prai to churn out the above products beginning January with the hope of doing his bit for our environment.

Eco-friendly plates costing 15 (S$0.06) to 20 sen each

Located at Prai industrial estate, Return2Green Sdn Bhd and Bio Green Bags Sdn Bhd will be producing 70 million pieces of various kinds of biodegradable packaging as well as six million eco-friendly utensils each year. Due to the high production cost during the initial stages, each of these eco-friendly plates will be sold between 15 and 20 sen each.

However, the price would be more competitive in the future owing to increased market demand and supply of these eco-products.

Job opportunities for 1,000

CEO of the company, P. Ramanesh said during a recent interview with Sin Chew Daily that his company was set up at a cost of RM30 million, with the input from him and Dr Sam Quah, a local businessma.

The company currently has 39 employees and is estimated to offer 1,000 job opportunities within the next couple of years for the state.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister Prof. Dr. Ramasamy and YB Phee Boon Poh, State Exco for Environment, were invited to witness the arrival of the first batch of high-technology machinery and officiate the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Ramanesh: Technology developed 4 years ago

P. Ramanesh said even if the technology of using agricultural waste to produce eco-friendly utensils had been adopted overseas, the production technology adopted by his company was the outcome of the effort of his R&D team over the past four years.

"Following the accomplishment of the technology of using sugarcane and corn residue to produce eco-friendly utensils, the R&D team will go on to involve itself in the next R&D initiative for the possibility of using padi and cassava residue as eco-friendly raw materials."

He added, although the newly launched eco-friendly utensils were more expensive than ordinary plastic utensils or products at this stage, he believed the eco-products would have a bright future.

He said packaging materials made of agricultural waste would disintegrate within about 180 days while polyethylene would typically take a thousand years.

According to him, these eco-products would not be confined to local markets only, but would also be exported to countries such as Europe, Japan, US, South Africa, etc.