Alor Gajah, August 2009 – Honda’s Pegoh Plant in Alor Gajah was recommended by Department of Environment (DOE), Melaka to Environment Institute of Malaysia (EiMAS), for its Environmental Management & Pollution Control training course recently. More than 15 participants from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and Asia Pacific Countries visited the premise.
Participated by 8 member states of OIC along with Singapore, Cambodia, Bhutan and Laos PDR, the visit to Honda’s Pegoh Plant in Melaka was aimed at sharing the recommended waste management practice and system in a factory environment.
Encik Azhar Abdul Wahab, Senior General Manager of the chosen manufacturing plant said that it is part of Honda’s culture to address global concern in providing a better future for the next generation. “Honda Malaysia has placed its emphasis of realizing green factory concept since its inception in 2002,” said Encik Azhar.
Following a brief knowledge-sharing presentation, En. Syahril M. Azmi, Manager of Constant Velocity Joint (CVJ) Department, who is also the Environmental Representative of Honda Malaysia, guided all delegates through a factory tour. During the tour, delegates were informed of the practice in managing waste disposal.
When approached, Ms. Thinley Dem from Bhutan shared her first time experience in the training: “This is the first time I am seeing a waste management system and I am impressed with the environmental centered rules that are in place.” Dem, an Executive Engineer, was pleased that she could apply the learning in her own country.
Ms. Roshadah binti Hashim, Principal Assistant Director of the Corporate Communications Centre from EiMAS reiterated the objective of the course, which is to provide an avenue for learning. “We hope the participants would bring the knowledge back to their country and practice it for the betterment of the environment, just like how we initially learned from other developed countries”.
A loyal advocate for the environment, Honda Malaysia constantly strives to run a green factory. Among its green initiatives are the implementations of Environmental Management Programmes (EMPs), where new initiatives are introduced on a yearly basis. The ultimate goal of such introduction is to reduce emission of carbon dioxide. Some of the initiatives that have been introduced and also actively practiced are Waste Water Treatment Plant that recycles waste water for generic cleaning purposes; Sludge Dryer is used to dry up high moisture waste prior to disposal; Food Waste Machine is used to process excess food into organic substance, which is good as fertilizer. Other programmes also include a mist collector and a recycle and collection center.
“We see our participation in this initiative of EiMAS as important because it is in line with Honda Malaysia’s priority, which is to contribute in creating a more sustainable environment. We certainly look forward to participate in such initiatives again,” En. Azhar shared encouragingly.
