By Nadiah Zamlus
SHAH ALAM, Oct 21 — A total of 2,000 tonnes of fabric waste was disposed in landfills in 2019, said KDEB Waste Management’s (KDEBWM) subsidiary management and project executive general manager Ahadi Mohd Nasir.
He said fabric wastes in landfills is one of the contributing factors to environmental pollution.
Disposed fabrics release methane gas, a dangerous greenhouse emission, and is a major source of global warming.
“In fact, dyes on clothes containing chemicals can seep into the soil and cause groundwater pollution. This water will then flow into our rivers, and so on.
“Therefore, at the start of last year, we began to encourage fabric recycling campaigns so as to reduce the rate of their disposal in landfills,” Ahadi said.
He was speaking to SelangorKini at the launch of the Kloth Cares Bin, in collaboration with KDEBWM, at the lobby of Menara Bank Rakyat in Section 14, Shah Alam, earlier today.
The launch saw the installation of fabric recycling bins, which can be filled with clothing, shoes, bags or hijabs that are no longer usable.
Ahadi added all the items in the bin will be collected by Kloth Cares, to be donated to the needy, or recycled into something else.
“This is the second bin of KDEBWM’s collaboration with Kloth Cares. The first bin was placed at the community recycling centre in Cyberjaya, with cooperation from the Sepang Municipal Council.
“We want more fabric recycling bins to be installed in the future, as most people only know about recycling cans, bottles and paper, but not fabric,” he said.
Also in attendance were Kloth cares co-founder Nik Suzila Hassan and Selangor Media group editor Fathi Aris Omar.
Kloth Cares is a local social entrepreneurship movement that applies the 3R concept (reuse, reduce and recycle).
