BMW Group Malaysia inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysian-based scheduled waste management solutions provider Pentas Flora to help tackle automotive waste starting from the German automaker’s network of dealerships.
“For us at BMW Group Malaysia, our vision for sustainability is clear. In all our efforts to mitigate climate change, we ensure our strategy is both Circular and Responsible – as we pursue a verifiable and consistent path towards climate neutrality by 2050,” said BMW Group Malaysia managing director Hans de Visser
“In doing so, we drive forward the Group’s global ambition here with a local context, while inspiring more Malaysian industry leaders to place ESG at the forefront of their decision-making in 2023,” added de Visser.
The MoU is part of BMW Group Malaysia’s RE:GENERATE programme to adopt circularity within the organisation.
The collaboration with Pentas Flora is seen as a crucial first step to ensuring not only proper automotive waste management but also a firm departure from the traditional linear approach to valuable resources.
“As we progress towards a more sustainable approach in our business practices, we looked within our own ecosystem to identify likeminded innovators and visionaries who share the same ambition as we do – and Pentas Flora, a long-time customer of BMW Group Financial Services Malaysia, became an ideal sustainability partner.,” said BMW Group Financial Services Malaysia CEO Matthias Schlesiger.
“In 2021, we kickstarted an internal initiative with our local dealer network to give waste oils and lubricants collected from their service centres a second life as re-refined eco-base oils,” added Schlesiger.
The goal is to achieve 100% participation in repurposing used oils and lubricants from all BMW dealers nationwide, while also encouraging more industry players to pay closer attention to waste management, ensuring that waste is no longer carelessly deposited into landfills, incinerated, or illegally dumped.
According to BMW Group Malaysia, more than 30,000 litres of waste oils and lubricants have been collected from four participating dealerships within the Klang Valley and have been sent for processing at Pentas Flora’s re-refinery plant in Banting to eventually be turned into re-refined eco-base oil (EBO) that will be channelled back into the automotive sector once again.
Re-refined oil is a complex but highly reliable product that goes through vacuum distillation, pre-treatment processes such as sieving, dewatering, vacuum dehydration, short path distillation, and a variety of treatment processes to obtain a quality end-product comparable to virgin base oil.
The roundtable discussion on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) by BMW Group Malaysia and Pentas Flora featured sustainability leaders from the public sector, alongside industry experts and innovators where they shared insights on low-carbon practices and the voluntary carbon market, risks for ESG non-compliance, good governance for sustainable growth, as well as a necessary mindset shift amongst corporate Malaysia towards self-regulation in their sustainability efforts.
“We recognise the shared commitment between our organisations in championing sustainability and responsibility in our business processes,” said Pentas Flora group executive director Oon Kin Seng
Onn added the environment can be preserved by ensuring harmful elements to the earth should be disposed of in a responsible manner.
“Ultimately, our work in managing scheduled waste for clients across industries by providing end-to-end solutions for hazardous waste management, is part of a larger vision to build a sustainable environment and a better future for all Malaysians and we are pleased to be able to drive its importance with a partner like BMW Group Malaysia,” concluded Oon.