AT Pantai Balok in Kuantan, the rubbish left behind on the sand is telling a story of its own. Plastic bottles... ropes... fabric... garden waste... polystyrene... and even rubber, cans and glass. Together, they weighed 68.75kg when collected by about 100 people who combed a stretch of the beach as part of COMB-AT. The initiative is a year-long coastal conservation effort launched by OSK Group to tackle marine litter and look closely at what ends up along the country's shores.
The name itself is a wordplay on "combat", with the tagline "Comb the Coast, Combat the Waste". But the idea goes beyond simply picking up rubbish and leaving the beach looking cleaner. Each piece of waste collected during the beach-combing exercise was sorted, weighed and categorised. The 68.75kg collected comprised 38.15kg of plastic bags and bottles, 7.35kg of garden waste, 7.20kg of fabric, 5.30kg of rope, 3.40kg of paper and cardboard, 3.20kg of mixed waste, 1.85kg of polystyrene, 1kg of rubber, 900g of metal cans and 400og of glass. It's this data-gathering element that OSK Group and its collaborators like SWCorp Malaysia hopes will make COMB-AT more than a one-off beach clean-up.
The findings gathered over the year will be used to identify the pattern of waste in our country's shores. In turn, this helps OSK Group and its partners consider where more targeted environmental action may be needed. Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry secretary-general Datuk Shaharuddin Abu Sohot, who officiated in the launch of the event, said Malaysia's beaches were among the country's most important natural assets for tourism. "Protecting these natural attractions is not only an environmental responsibility, but also important to maintain the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of our tourism industry," he said, adding that initiatives such as COMB-AT showed what could be achieved when government, industry, local authorities and communities worked together. For OSK Group executive director Datuk Saiful Bahri Zainuddin, the exercise is also about making sustainability a tangible objective.
"At OSK, sustainability cannot remain confined to reports. It must be experienced and put into action by our people," he said. He sees the information gathered from the clean-ups as equally important. Shared Datuk Saiful: "We view this as a purposeful clean-up: beyond clearing litter, the data we gather alongside SWCorp Malaysia will help build a clearer picture of waste patterns along the coastline. "This allows us to move from simply responding to the problem to understanding it better and thinking about more informed, long-term solutions." Under COMB-AT, about 1.4km of shoreline, covering approximately 45,000 sq m, will be combed in each session. The activity is scheduled to take place monthly over the course of the year.
The initiative is organised by OSK Group, with support from OSK Capital and Swiss-Grand Beach Resort Kuantan, in collaboration with the ministry, Tourism Pahang and Kuantan City Council (MBK). SWCorp Malaysia is the technical partner. For OSK Group, the clean-up of Pantai Balok is also a strategic business choice. Swiss-Grand Beach Resort Kuantan, part of Swiss Garden International's hospitality portfolio, sits along the coastline. And Swiss Garden International is the hospitality division and wholly-owned brand of OSK Group.
The hospitality portfolio was established in 1991, and the newly refurbished resort has recently received five-star recognition from Motac. "A destination is defined by its natural surroundings as much as its facilities," said Saiful. "Pantai Balok is the heart of this coastal ecosystem, and we have an ongoing responsibility to help protect it." That responsibility also fits into the group's wider approach to waste management and the circular economy. Last year, OSK Group diverted 198,669kg of metal, 155,356kg of paper and 784,437kg of plastic from landfills — a combined 1,138,462kg, or more than 1,138 tonnes. The group said this was more than double the total volume diverted in the previous year.
COMB-AT also contributes to OSK Group's work to achieve three United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 14, Life Below Water, through efforts to reduce marine pollution; SDG 12, Responsible Consumption and Production, through waste management and resource recovery; and SDG 17, Partnerships for the Goals, through collaboration between the public, private and community sectors. The launch brought together company employees, local residents, students, volunteers, government representatives and partner organisations, all together about 100 people taking part — a reminder that keeping a coastline clean is rarely the work of one organisation alone. For OSK Group, the hope is that by returning to the same stretch of beach month after month, the exercise will reveal more than just how much rubbish can be removed. It may also reveal what the coastline is trying to tell us.
Source - NST
