With the North-South Expressway, PLUS aims to lead in its sustainable practices and craft its own narrative on its progress and resilience that can inspire and empower all generations of Malaysians.
FOR most industries, the race to integrate practices that help lower their carbon footprint scores becomes more urgent, especially when such industries depend on other businesses that observe ESG standards.
Malaysia largest highway concessionaire PLUS Malaysia Bhd (PLUS) aims to lead by setting the industry’s benchmark for the nation, as the country’s first highway operator to conduct a comprehensive climate risk assessment.
“This provides us with the ability to strategically support the government to shape national policies aimed to drive nation building and advance our nation’s sustainability agenda,” said PLUS managing director Datuk Nik Airina Nik Jaffar.
The company proactively mitigates climate change impacts by deploying advanced preventive measures through its operations, while setting new standards in infrastructure resilience.
Nik Airina: 'We embrace regulatory changes as an opportunity to innovate, driving us to explore new sustainable practices.'
“By integrating sustainable practices into our strategic asset and operations management, we aim to strengthen resilience to climate change, enhance asset durability and lifespan to achieve optimum whole life cycle cost, ultimately delivering operational efficiency,” she said.
She further explained that the company’s sustainability agenda is aligned with the government plans, policies and transition roadmaps, namely the Madani Economy Framework, the National Energy Transition Roadmap and the Low-Carbon Mobility Plan.
It also supports emerging frameworks such as the National Climate Change Policy 2.0 and the National Sustainability Reporting Framework.
Being a subsidiary of UEM Group Berhad (UEM Group), PLUS aligns its commitment to further the group’s domestic investment agenda of creating lasting value by integrating sustainable practices that benefit both the environment and the community, while also generating positive economic multiplier effects.
Amran: PLUS’ commitment to sustainable operations align with UEM Group’s domestic investment agenda of creating lasting value.
UEM Group managing director Datuk Amran Hafiz Affifudin said, “As the infrastructure arm of Khazanah Nasional, UEM Group and its subsidiaries will continue to advocate for greater operational efficiency and sustainable development initiatives.
“These efforts will help build a resilient foundation that supports economic growth and environmental stewardship for future generations, in line with Khazanah’s vision of Advancing Malaysia.”
Shining examples
An example of PLUS’ transformation is the recently launched Seremban Southbound Rest and Service Area (RSA), Malaysia’s first sustainable rest station.
Nik Airina said PLUS Seremban Southbound RSA sets a blueprint for the industry, a greener way to educate highway travellers and encourage them to embed sustainable practices in their journeys.The RSA’s design has been certified with a gold rating by the Green Building Index (GBI), which fulfils the company’s vision of redefining eco-friendly travel on the North-South Expressway.
The building incorporates the use of eco-conscious materials and houses state-of-the-art green technologies, which include solar panels, electric vehicle (EV) charging points, rainwater harvesting system, food waste composting machines and recycling bins for fabric and all key materials.
In fact, more direct-current fast-charging points are strategically installed in selected RSAs, with a target of 100 units by 2025, in anticipation of the high adoption of EVs.
Another of PLUS’ decarbonising efforts involve maximising renewable energy to power its infrastructure using solar photovoltaic systems as it transitions away from fossil fuels.
PLUS has also retrofitted the streetlights along its highways, upgrading over 37,000 with LED lights.
This investment helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25,827 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2eq) – equivalent to saving 427,044 trees annually.
Progressive outlook
“We have taken an active role in enhancing Malaysia’s resilience against climate change by adopting climate impact adaptation measures for critical national infrastructure,” Nik Airina said.
She elaborated that as the pioneer infrastructure company to conduct a comprehensive climate risk assessment, PLUS has implemented preventive and detective measures to mitigate the effects of climate change on the national infrastructure.
It also benefits PLUS’ users, as well as the communities who live along the highways.
“With a significant operational footprint spanning over 1,130km across nine states in Peninsular Malaysia, we serve up to two million vehicles daily, facilitating socioeconomic activities across Peninsular Malaysia and improving the quality of life for Malaysians.”
To stay ahead of the curve, especially in anticipation of new regulations and trends, PLUS continuously monitors regulatory developments and engages with policymakers.
“We embrace regulatory changes as an opportunity to innovate, driving us to explore new sustainable practices that not only comply with regulations, but more importantly, contribute to our long-term resilience and competitiveness,” shared Nik Airina.
The Seremban Southbound RSA building incorporates the use of eco-conscious material and houses state-of-the-art technologies.
A broader context
On a larger scale, Nik Airina said PLUS is committed to shape the industry both locally and regionally as the sustainable practices align it with national and international sustainable development goals.
“We actively contribute to national-level initiatives to shape the nation’s policies and we participate in the National Planetary Health Action Plan committee, where we provide industry thought leadership in developing policies to shape future sustainable development within the planetary boundaries.”
She added that the national capacity building efforts include supporting the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) and local universities in delivering sustainability training programmes to empower current and future leaders to deepen their understanding on sustainability.
“Our efforts so far have been recognised by United Nations Global Compact Malaysia and Brunei for establishing the industry’s first comprehensive climate risk and human rights risk assessments.”
With such measures, PLUS aims to inspire and empower all generations of Malaysians.
As PLUS continues its green evolution, Malaysia’s highways are set to become iconically sustainable pathways to the future.
“Our mission at PLUS is to ‘Connect communities to shape a safe and sustainable future’,” said Nik Airina.
“Adopting environmentally conscious and socially responsible practices strengthens public trust, creates operational efficiency, enhances our resilience and future proofs our business in today’s rapidly evolving ecosystem.”
