Best of our wild blogs: 23 Oct 18

1-4 Nov: Singapore Eco Film Festival 2018 celebrates IYOR and Singapore shores
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

2 Nov (Fri): Free screening of 'Ubin, Sayang' at the Singapore Eco Film Festival 2018
Restore Ubin Mangroves (R.U.M.) Initiative

10 Nov (Sat): Coastal Clean Up at Sungei Seletar with Little Green Men
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

Singapore’s First Guide For Rating F&B Retailers On Their Efforts To Reduce Plastic Disposables
Zero Waste Singapore

Full Speech: Towards a Plastic-Lite Singapore Adjournment Motion (Oct 1)
Your Voices in Parliament

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New service to help companies cut carbon emissions, generate savings

Brandon Tanoto Channel NewsAsia 22 Oct 18;

SINGAPORE: Singapore companies can now subscribe to a service that will help them cut energy usage and carbon emissions by about 10 per cent, and in turn, generate savings.

The service – called the Co-Pilot Hub – was launched on Monday (Oct 22) and is offered by software and services provider KBC.

The hub is co-funded by Japanese electrical engineering and software firm Yokogawa Electric Corporation and through a grant from the Economic Development Board under the Research Incentive Scheme for Companies (RISC).

Companies can sign up and pay a subscription fee and pay the solutions provider, KBC, a portion of the energy savings that are achieved. KBC declined to disclose how much the subscription fee is.

KBC projects that a refinery, for example, will be able to save up to S$30 million a year through the service.

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Malaysia: Habitat of endangered Malayan tigers vanishing

The Star 23 Oct 18;

PETALING JAYA: The Hulu Sempam area which has been cleared for durian plantation is vital to the survival of the Malayan tiger, which is now considered critically endangered.

The area, said WWF’s Siti Zuraidah Abidin, had also been identified as an Expected Tiger Habitat under the National Tiger Action Plan for Malaysia 2008-2020 and its surrounding forests a confirmed tiger habitat.

“Land clearing at Hulu Sempam can cause the wider forests to be fragmented, which in turn can affect the wildlife movement,” she said.

In June 2015, the Malayan tiger was moved from the “Endangered” to “Critically Endangered” category in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.

However, with just two years to go before the plan’s end date, the number of tigers in the wild is believed to have dwindled to about 300.

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Malaysia: Sabah state govt mulls planting food for wild elephants

The Star 23 Oct 18;

KOTA KINABALU: The state government is thinking of planting food for elephants in certain protected areas to prevent them from encroaching into plantations.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew said the move could help to reduce human-elephant conflict and prevent the extinction of the species in Sabah.

“Given the loss of habitat, the remaining 2,000-odd elephants need a home so that they don’t encroach into oil palm plantations and risk getting snared, maimed or killed,” she said in a statement.

Liew, who is also Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, said the pygmy elephants are currently concentrated in three areas – Lower Kinabatangan Managed Elephant Range (MER), Tabin MER and Central Sabah MER in the Danum area.

“The aim is to create a sustainable food chain within the three MERs, a new corridor of life for the elephants and avert crop damage in the oil palm plantations and smallholdings,” she said.

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Malaysia: No information about elephant killings despite RM120,000 reward

Olivia Miwil New Straits Times 22 Oct 18;

KOTA KINABALU: No one has come forward to furnish details on the killing of elephants in Sabah although RM120,000 reward was offered.

Sabah Wildlife Department offered the lucrative incentive in August following the death of more than 20 elephants in the state.

The department director Augustine Tuuga said the public either truly had no idea about the killings or were afraid to come forward to assist in investigations.

To date, the department had reported 27 elephant deaths either due to fighting, disease, injuries related to snare traps, poisoning or gunshots.

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UK: Plastic recycling industry's problems costing councils up to £500,000 a year

Chinese ban on waste imports is significantly affecting UK councils’ ability to collect and recycle plastic
Sandra Laville The Guardian 20 Oct 18;

Major problems in the plastic recycling industry are costing local councils in England up to £500,000 extra a year, as they struggle to deal with the continuing fallout from import bans imposed by countries who are no longer able to take the UK’s waste.

A survey by the Local Government Association (LGA) revealed nearly half of councils who responded (52) say China’s ban is having a significant impact on their ability to collect and recycle plastic, due to rising costs. Fourteen councils across the country say their recycling costs have increased by an average of half a million pounds a year, in part because of rising processing charges per tonne.

“It’s clear that the ban by China on imported waste, which could soon be implemented by other countries, could have a marked impact on councils’ ability to recycle,” said Martin Tett, environment spokesman for the LGA. “It is essential that the government provide support to help councils offset the loss of income they face as a result of the ban. Councils want manufacturers to play their part to reduce the amount of material entering the environment which can’t be recycled.”

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