KOTA KINABALU: A plan to give monetary value to plastic waste is set to be the bedrock for a non-governmental organisation's push to make Sabah be plastic neutral.

       Blu Hope's founder Simon Christopher said they were working with various stakeholders toward creating a plastic economy for the local communities by introducing different recycling technologies.

       "In order to achieve Sabah Plastic Neutral within the next five years (by end-2026), we need to maximise value from plastic waste and bring 'real tangible value' in recycling plastic waste," said Christopher with the NGO expected to roll out its plans by April this year.

       He said that currently there was no monetary value in discarded plastics but Blu Hope was working with various local and international groups to bring in appropriate technologies to recycle such waste into fuel and furniture among others.

       "We want to create a new circular plastic economy for local communities and help to protect Sabah's unique biodiversity at the same time," Christopher said, explaining that awareness and education among students were also key elements in their effort to push the plastic neutral plans.

       He said that Blu Hope has signed a Kota-Kinabalu-Plastic Neutral memorandum of understanding with Kota Kinabalu City Hall towards collection and recycling plastic waste including the tonnes of waste washed up at the shores of the state capital daily.

       He said Blu Hope would soon carry out a series of regular "quantitative and qualitative" beach cleaning operations to obtain a new scientific data collection of marine debris across all the city's beaches.

       "With this data, Kota Kinabalu City Hall can set up better waste management and collection facilities later this year," he added.

       Christopher said they were working with the Sabah Education Department to provide reliable, safe clean drinking water to all students and teachers instead of them relying exclusively on plastic bottles for clean water.

       "It will significantly reduce Sabah's single-use plastic problem in the process," he said, explaining that students usually used plastic water bottles for safe drinking water.

       He said that Blu Hope was working with French water filter manufacturer Fonto de Vivo alongside UK's Ocean Generation to provide a safe water filtering system for schools as well as provide reusable bottles for the students.

       Earlier this week, Blu Hope launched its Water is Life - Rethinking Plastics and Education Awareness Programme to educate and create awareness among school children.

       According to Blu Hop's co-founder and community director Monica Chin, they plan to engage students with multi-lingual short videos and assignments to create awareness and help change behaviour at home.

       The programme will initially involve 30 schools of less than 10,000 students and teachers. It is expected to take about four months, kicking off with a five-school pilot programme involving less than 4,000 students and teachers in Pulau Gaya, Sepanggar and in Menumbok.

       Apart from state and education officials, France ambassador to Malaysia, Roland Galharague also gave a donation from the embassy for the Blu Hope project.