RECYCLING In plantation upstream, we leverage the many useful applications of oil palm as an integral part of our waste-to-wealth business strategy. As articulated earlier, biomass from oil palm milling is used to produce biogas, palm kernel expeller, a palm by-product, is converted into animal feed for sale in the domestic and selected foreign markets. We also recycle waste products such as EFB, palm fronds and palm trunk into organic fertilisers for internal use, in support of environmental sustainability, in place of inorganic fertilisers and for sale in the domestic market. We also use microbes to enhance plant growth to reduce dependency on chemical fertilisers in the estates. WASTE management FGV is moving towards zero-waste operation throughout all its subsidiaries to realise our goal of becoming a zero-environmental impacts operation. As part of our climate action plan, FGV has started with conducting waste mapping and circularity gaps to understand our existing environmental impacts and our capacity to adopt a circular economy. Through waste mapping and circularity gaps, FGV has initiated a comprehensive centralised waste inventory that could disclose all information on the waste that concerns its management and arising issues at all operations. The data would include waste generation, handling and storage, and waste disposal. Our waste management approaches also contributes and bolster our waste-to-wealth business strategy. Various waste management approaches used across the group include treating biomass from palm oil milling to generate biogas, reusing residues from land development as organic fertilisers, nano filtration waste treatment systems to process the discharge produced in our sugar refineries, amongst others. While the waste management approaches we used may be many and varied they all bear a common attribute in that all are sustainable and environment sensitive. Specific to EFB, FGV is in a joint-venture plan to build an EFB pulp and paper plant, potentially in Kuantan, Pahang which is expected to be completed in 2022/2023 that would utilise between half a million to one million tonnes of EFB annually. The Renewable Energy Division is the backbone of the Group’s waste-to-wealth strategy, supplying and trading 14 type of biomass by-products such as palm kernel shell, palm oil sludge and shredded empty bunch fibre, contributing additional revenue to the Group. Our downstream business has two (2) principal types of waste produced by its manufacturing operations, namely, dry waste consisting of plastic, shrink wrap and cartons, and wet waste in the form of sludge oil, scum and other forms of effluent. While the effluent is disposed in accordance with the Department of Environment (DOE) regulations, the dry waste is sold to recycling companies for alternative uses. In our Sugar business, cutting-edge nano-filtration waste treatment systems enable us to process the discharge produced in our refineries. The resulting salt residue has the potential to be re-used for resin regeneration, while the rest of the residue is filtered and cleaned before being discharged. A research was conducted on mudcake waste and it revealed that mudcake reduces acidity in soil, making it viable for use as fertiliser. This has led to a trial programme between MSM and FGV Fertiliser in October 2021 to turn mudcakes into fertilisers. 115 CLIMATE ACTION & ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2020/2021
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