By Zaki Salleh
IPOH: A cheerful and energetic atmosphere filled the Falim Sports Center grounds as a total of 910 participants joined the GEA OILympic Run 2025.
This community programme was organised by Green Energy Asia (GEA) with the support of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).
The event was not just a fun run, but also an important platform to enhance public understanding of sustainable disposal of used cooking oil.
GEA’s Managing Director, Mervyn Cheng, said the GEA OILympic Run 2025 is part of the organisation’s continuous effort to educate the public about the pollution caused by used cooking oil.
He said that used cooking oil discarded into drains or onto the ground not only harms the ecosystem, but also increases the risk of harmful bacterial growth.
“When people understand that used cooking oil can be turned into a new source of energy, they will be more motivated to manage waste properly.
“GEA hopes that more households will collect their used cooking oil and hand it over to licensed parties for processing and recycling,” he said.
GEA also opened a UCO (Used Cooking Oil) collection counter during the race kit collection session on 22 November 2025.
The initiative received encouraging support, with 265.4 kilograms of used cooking oil successfully collected from participants and the surrounding community.
The collected material will be processed and sent to a biodiesel processing plant, which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 percent compared to regular diesel.
This effort demonstrates the potential of recycling used cooking oil in supporting the nation’s green economy.
