Turning wood waste into wonder

GROWING up in a furniture-making family business, Harith Ridzuan was introduced to the world of woodworking at a young age.

Years of helping out at the family’s factory during school holidays gave him a familiarity with the carpentry trade, but it wasn’t until he joined the business following university that he began recognising significant problems across the industry.

“Malaysia is one of the largest exporters of wood products globally, but it’s not very sustainable,” he says.

Wood harvesting would often be tied to unethical practices, while production resulted in high amounts of wood offcuts and sawdust which end up in landfills.

“Businesses generally don’t care about where materials are sourced or the volume of waste generated, only that it’s cheap and fits the specifications,” Harith adds.

In 2012, he came across what he described as his “last straw” – a statistic showing that Malaysia had the highest rate of deforestation in the world.

“I told my parents that if I was to continue the business, we had to go in a more sustainable direction,” he recalls.

He began experimenting with repurposing wood waste such as shipping pallets and crates into new pieces.

In the process, he planted the seeds of what would grow to be The Green Factory, a manufacturing brand now leading the way locally in sustainable wood products.

Emphasising a circular approach, The Green Factory is characterised by eco-friendly sourcing, green design, waste management, and education.

The business currently obtains its wood from three sources.

The first is plantations where trees nearing the end of their productive life cycle are harvested and used as timber.

Another key resource is reclaimed timber from construction sites or old houses.

Lastly, it sources wood from local forests with Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, which ensures sustainable forest management.

“The certification means the forests are free from illegal logging, use selective cutting with regular replantation, and are audited every year to ensure compliance,” Harith explains.

However, even with notable strides in sustainable sourcing over the years, the founder knew that building a “green” business meant going further beyond materials.

“I realised it had to be applied across the whole process, from using non-toxic coating and environmentally-friendly packaging to product design.

“We seek to make every aspect cleaner.”

Driven by this ethos, The Green Factory also places priority on lowering energy consumption in production, building products that last, and minimising waste.

The business’ product subcategories are structured in a way that reflects its waste reduction mission.

While the wider brand focuses on crafting products such as furniture and trophies, the extra wood and offcuts from manufacturing such larger items are then used to make products for Dapo, its homeware and gifting line.

From there, the excess wood that is left from making Dapo’s products are then used to make smaller accessories such as earrings and buttons for its Oran & Bula sub-brand.

Today, the company ships to over 20 countries and partners with a number of international companies and brands, from Coca-Cola to Telekom Malaysia Bhd.

Last year, The Green Factory opened a retail store at The Campus Ampang, a first for the company which had largely operated in the business-to-business space.

According to Harith, the expansion of this consumer retail segment was due to growing interest from the public around green manufacturing and sustainable wood products.

The physical outlet provides customers a tangible way to see and interact with the sustainably-made wares in-person.

“Our aim was to reframe the idea that green products are expensive and could only come from overseas.

“We wanted to offer the market a new way of looking at timber and sustainable materials by making it more accessible.”

As a research and design factory producing hundreds of designs and thousands of products for clients every year, The Green Factory positions itself in the market between smaller, wood crafting businesses and bigger mass production players.

“The small businesses are limited in terms of production volume, while the big companies don’t have the technical research and design capacity we do, so we have a certain advantage by sitting in the middle,” he says.

For Harith, the current challenge for The Green Factory is how to scale itself and ensure longevity.

There’s also a sense of urgency to leverage the present moment where sustainability has become a key imperative across businesses.

“We have a lot of local and international demand now but limited capacity, so having to turn down projects and not capitalising on it feels like a waste.

“For this reason, we are looking for investors to scale up in terms of machines, people and space.”

Another key area that Harith is heavily involved in is advocacy and education, with the business offering workshops, talks, and factory tours to help increase exposure and understanding around green manufacturing.

One of his goals is to have more organisations and businesses adopt a mindset that sees sustainability not as a necessary cost, but as a competitive advantage.

“For us, we saw an increase in our profit margins as a result of greener processes. We also gained a new revenue source from our waste, and attracted smart young talents as well as like-minded investors,” he adds.

Currently, The Green Factory is already expanding its scope beyond its core wood products, exploring ways to utilise recycled glass, plastic, and fabric to craft new products.

“We see waste becoming the future of materials, and we want to be at the forefront of that, especially in Malaysia.”