2016 Categories

Please note that as always, the expert panel of MSA judges have the right to move a participant from one category to another if the judges believe that a different category is more appropriate / applicable.  For more information on the Judges of MSA 2016, please see the Judges panel.

In nature, everything is fully utilized; nothing is wasted and each organism plays a role in recycling, or re – purposing resources.  Humans however, have created a linear approach where resources are taken or made, used and / or disposed of.  Humans are the only species on this planet that consume resources without replenishing them, actively generate waste, and create a source of materials that cannot be utilized by other organisms in the environment.  Many of the ‘used’ products that we throw away are still valuable and can be recycled or re – purposed to help eliminate waste and significantly reduce our use of natural resources.  By bringing these products back into the cycle, we can build capital, reduce waste, and in the end, create a ‘circular economy’.  This is the reason that MDBC focused on Circular Economy for MSA ’16.

(For more information on Circular Economy, please watch this video.)

The Award Categories for MSA 2016 were:

1. The Greenhorn Award (Best Circular Economy Related Initiative)
   For those who have just started on the Circular Economy journey and / or are focused on ensuring one initiative of their operations are related to the circular economy, The Greenhorn Award seeks to reward and encourage their efforts.  
2. The Elite Award (Best Overall Circular Economy Activities)
   For those who are more fully involved in the Circular Economy and have multiple activities enabling their organization to more actively and uniformly participate.

MDBC also believes that in order for an organization to be sustainable, it must innovate.  MDBC encouraged and invested in innovation through the introduction of the Orange Factory in MSA ’16.  Growing societal and environmental issues in Southeast Asia needs innovative entrepreneurial solutions.  Initiated by the Dutch Government in collaboration with the private sector and non – governmental partners, Orange ASEAN (which Orange Factory is a part of) connects Dutch and ASEAN entrepreneurship to accelerate sustainable innovations.  

The Orange Factory – Making Business Sustainable
Orange Factory is an intense 3 week workshop for talented students and young professionals from The Netherlands and Southeast Asia, designing innovative solutions for sustainability challenges in the region.  Supported by academics and experts, 20 – 30 participants work together in dedicated teams to develop business cases for real – life issues.  Participants in the KL edition of the Orange Factory presented their solutions at MSA ’16 for judging.

For more information on Orange ASEAN, please visit: http://www.orangeasean.com.

Guiding an organization in its path towards sustainability takes strength, discipline, heart, values, inclusiveness, a long term view, a strong vision for making a significant difference, and a willingness to innovate and be radical.  So how do you do it?

MDBC realized that this was a question likely on the minds of corporate leaders who were still grappling with how to more successfully lead and encourage sustainability within their own organizations.  To continue the main goal of MDBC’s Awards Program – that of the sharing of best practices – MDBC invited top representatives from four MDBC founding members, Shell Malaysia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, HEINEKEN Malaysia, KPMG, and host venue The Westin Kuala Lumpur to share their stories on sustainability.

Each speaker provided a brief presentation on their own experiences which was followed by an opportunity for audience members to have a short one on one conversation with them.  

These shortlisted companies for MSA 2016 were invited to present their projects during the MSA 2016 Day Program (which was open to the general public) for a Q&A session and final judging.

Please note: Shortlisted nominees are listed in alphabetical order; the order is NOT indicative of any ranking.

The shortlisted nominees and projects in the ‘Greenhorn Award (Best Circular Economy Related Initiative)‘ category were:

* Biovalence – Pioneering the next generation of shrimp farms with the Rosette Inititiative using the latest biotechnology, water treatment technology, aquaculture engineering, and disease control technology.

* Energy Transformers – Highlighting their bio – coal and bio – char products as part of the circular economy.

* Kloth Lifestyle – Producing and marketing high quality sustainable fabric made out of recycled plastic bottles.

* Sime Darby Property – Developing properties on former oil palm plantations and converting oil palm biomass waste into biomass pellets for use as a source of cleaner energy.

The shortlisted nominees and projects in the ‘Elite Award (Best Overall Circular Economy Drive‘ category were:

* KLM Royal Dutch Airlines – KLM aims to minimize waste and recycle and reprocess whenever possible throughout the supply chain.  They do this via a variety of pursuits such as the development and use of biofuels, paperless cockpits, and upcycling a variety of items.

* Teleplan Technology Services – Focusing on their passport pilot product, capturing data points frome ach product serviced by Teleplan including parts, components, and materials in each product.  This enables them to make smarter, faster, and more effective decisions in the supply chain related to re – use, harvest, or residual value.

* YTL Corporation – YTL Cement manufactures their own sand (M – sand) as a potential full replacement for natural sand, and produces their own blended cements to reduce their footprint in quarrying natural ores.

All MSA entries were judged by highly regarded, independent, expert individuals led by the Chief Judge – H.E. Karin Mössenlechner (Ambassador, Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands).

After shortlisting entries to the top 3 in each category, judges do one final round of assessment during the MSA Day Program where each shortlisted nominee gives a presentation on their submission.  Judges and audience members alike are allowed to ask questions of each nominee before category judges meet privately to confer and tally up the points.

Winners in each category are announced immediately after the Day Program at the MSA Awards Ceremony and Dinner.  This announcement is inclusive of a Judges Report on the winner’s submission highlighting the underlying core concept of the MDBC Awards Program – the sharing of best practices which leads to an elevation in the understanding in the subject matter.

CHIEF JUDGE – H.E. Karin Mössenlechner
Ambassador, Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands

The Ambassador started her diplomatic career in 1997.  She was first posted in The Hague, followed by a posting as Head of Political Section in New Delhi, India.  From 2006 – 2010, she was the Deputy Ambassador and Head of Economic Affairs in Berne, Switzerland.  From 2010 – 2011, she was Assistant Director for European Integration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague.  She then went on a transfer to the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB), where she worked as the Coordinator for Security Policy and Public Affairs, as well as Deputy Competition Leader for the Dutch Premier League (Eredivisie). From 2013 – 2016 she was back at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague as Deputy Director Security Policy and in the latter part of that period also as coordinator for MH17.  On 1 August 2016 the Ambassador took up her post here in Malaysia.

GREENHORN AWARD:

JUDGE A – Celine Chan Hooi Li
Managing Director, TMF Group

With more than 20 years of experience in the service industry, Celine has been in senior management leadership positions in various industries, including logistics and IT, among others.  She has also previously successfully grown companies into industry leaders.

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JUDGE B – Girish Ramachandran
Client Development Director, Arcadis

Girish has been with Arcadis since 2014 and has a wide breath of industry experience in oil and gas, energy, manufacturing, water, infrastructure, and many more.  He also sits on various social services NGO organizations.

ELITE AWARD:

JUDGE A – Lim Bee Vian
Executive Director, Services Development, MIDA

Lim Bee Vian has been working for MIDA since 1991.  She has worked in multiple departments over the years and was involved in making the draft for the 3rd industrial master plan.  At the moment, she overseas three divisions in MIDA.

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JUDGE B – Tim Saw
Director of Marketing & Communications, InvestKL

Prior to his work with InvestKL, Tim was the Client Service Director for a local marketing communications agency.  He has also served as senior manager with Roshan, the leading Afghan telecommunications company in Kabul, Afghanistan.

MDBC: MSA 2016 – Video

MDBC Sustainability Awards 2016 interview on BFM Radio