Converting plastic bottles into rice

By Olivia Miwil - March 26, 2019 @ 1:26pm

One of SK Pulau Mantanani brought home of 10 kilogrammes rice in exchange of 50 plastic bottles filled with shredded plastic. (NSTP/COURTESY OF SK MANTANANI)

KOTA BELUD: Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Pulau Mantanani here has converted 500 used plastic bottles into 100kg of rice.

This pioneering project was initiated by state Assistant Education and Innovation minister Jenifer Lasimbang during a 'gotong royong' with the community here last month and has drawn a good response.

“From the rubbish collection, we found that there were many bottles and plastic being dumped into the sea and its surrounding areas.

“YB Jenifer then proposed to the school to have pupils to fill in shredded plastic into 1.5-litre plastic bottles which are turned into ‘eco bricks’,” said the school's teacher Danny Burakak.

An eco-brick is a plastic bottle packed with plastic to a set density to create a reusable building block.

Eco-bricks are used to make modular furniture, garden spaces and full-scale buildings such as schools and houses

Danny said that for every 50 bottles collected, the Moyog assemblyman has agreed to reward it with a 10kg bag of rice.

Meanwhile, Jenifer said rewarding with rice is just the beginning to motivate and raise awareness among children and parents on managing waste, especially plastics.

“We are taking small steps towards a better environment especially on waste segregation and management.

“There used to be company in-charge of disposing rubbish at the island, but now, there is none. But, still, there is a need to prevent these plastic items from continuing to be in the sea” she said.

She adds that the plastic on the island is also collected from tourists and resorts around the island.

On future plans for the school, she said that they will look into the needs to upscale the plastic bottles into structures such as aquaponics.

The school's headmaster Yatan Binua said its 150 pupils are looking forward to continuing their involvement in the project.