Lotus’s M’sia, MJIIT, UTM held NaSIC’24 finals

LOTUSS Stores (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Lotus’s Malaysia), Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) on July 27 announced the top five teams and the winning team of the 2nd National Sustainability Innovation Challenge (NaSIC’24). This year, the finalists have shared innovative ideas to help overcome a great challenge that Malaysia faces today, a mounting waste problem.

NaSIC’24 is designed to inspire students aged 16 to 19 to develop sustainable solutions that will change the current landscape of waste generation in the country, from complementing current waste management efforts in Lotus’s to engaging consumers and foster collaboration across the retail supply chain. The challenge also aims to integrate sustainability into all aspects of learning, increase interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and enhance problem-solving, critical thinking and collaboration skills.

To participate, students must propose a practicable solution that can be adopted into the retail sector to not only minimise waste generation but also maximise resource efficiency. The ideas presented by participants were judged by technical consultants from MJIIT, UTM and industry professionals from Lotus’s and Unilever Malaysia over a duration of 17 weeks.

Lotus's Malaysia corporate services executive director Azliza Azmel said: “Inspiring and empowering youth including teachers to be more involved in identifying real-world solutions to bring a positive impact to the environment is close to our heart in Lotus’s. We believe it is our corporate responsibility to further grow our efforts in diverting waste from our business operations away from landfills and encourage innovation and fresh perspectives from talented young minds in the country. We are excited to hear from the finalists and celebrate the winning proposal and we look forward to continuing our partnership with MJIIT, UTM.

“All 142 NaSIC’24 participating teams who hail from across Malaysia including Sabah and Sarawak revealed how attuned students are to the climate crisis and circularity challenges. Their proposals demonstrate the power of research, curiosity, commitment, collaboration and a passion to make the world we live in today and in the future a better place.”

The solutions presented by the five finalist teams include:

- Use of innovative LED lighting technology to extend quality and shelf life of fresh produce,

- Eliminating printed waste with digital receipts,

- Introduction of e-waste vending machines,

- Creating biodegradable plastic from durian seeds and eggshells,

- Producing recycled bricks from waste paper and eggshells.

The winning teams comprised a first-place winner, second-place winner and third-place winner from the five finalist teams, based on the highest scoring from judges. The first-place team was to receive RM1,200 cash vouchers, while second-place team gets RM900 cash vouchers, and the third-place winners was to receive RM600 cash vouchers. The winning ideas will then be further assessed and developed by MJIIT-UTM before it can be adopted as a practical solution in Lotus’s Malaysia’s business operations.

The winning teams are (team name, school and state, and project title):

1. Champion: “Masterminds” of SMK Bandar Seri Putra, Selangor. Project title: “Innovative LED Lighting Technology”.

2. First runner-up: “Brotherhood” of Taiping Vocational College, Perak. Project title: “EcoVation Brick: Recycled Bricks Produced Using Waste Paper and Eggshell”.

3: Second runner-up: “MRSM Bentong 1” of MRSM Bentong, Pahang. Project Title: “Go Green, Go Digital: Digital Receipt”.

For more information on NaSIC’24, go to its official social channels below:

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nasic_2024

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nasic2024 .