PLEDGES OF SUSTAINABILITY AT THE DATAI LANGKAWI, MALAYSIA 

When it comes to preserving and integrating into its surroundings, nature and sustainability at The Datai Langkawi in Malaysia are core interwoven principles which have been adopted as conservation pledges. For those looking to book a truly inspiring luxury eco-conscious stay; the Datai Langkawi resort is not only buried deep in a 10 million year rainforest but exudes relaxed luxury by coexisting almost with its surroundings. Read on to discover more about the resorts sustainability pledges, past, present and future journey to reducing their carbon footprint and contributing zero waste to the islands landfill. 

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The Datai Pledge

Anyone who has stayed at resort will undeniably say that one of the reasons they chose to stay at the Datai is due to its almost invisible location and it’s ability to co-exist and almost be a part of the surrounding thriving eco-system. It’s a luxury five star eco-resort where sustainability is not just a priority but is the passion of the 650 staff team that work here and fly the flag proudly of what they have accomplished here. They are happy to share every part of their journey to achieving zero waste to landfill. This isn’t greenwashing! This is all about investing and building a future where the eco-system and ocean are integral and that they remain as virgin as possible. 

This 10 million year old rainforest, the sea and the mangroves form the basis of the experiences that are offered at the Datai whether they be nature related or promoting wellness through holistic programmes. 

Related Article: The Datai Langkawi, A Sustainable Luxury Hotel Review

Conservation at The Datai has led to a series of sustainability initiatives which have been conceptualised by Irshad Mobarak, the resorts chief advisor and Langkawi advocate for protecting the local eco-system. These initiatives consolidate the increasingly fragile resources and reduce negative impact upon the environment have led to the formation of the Datai Pledge. It’s purpose is not only to benefit the flora and fauna of the island but also to add meaningful experiences to guests, team members and the aid the local community placing a positive impact. 

The Datai Pledge is  made up of a number of subjects relating to the Datai as a business, the land, the sea and youth which concentrate around four pillars:

• Pure for the Future.
• Wildlife for the Future.
• Fish for the Future.
• Youth for the Future. 

The Datai  Langkawi also partners with local Non Government organisation (NGO)’s performing sustainable led conservation research projects in order to develop specific activities which can in turn help towards addressing each of the pillars 

A Closer Look at The Datai Pledge Pillars 

Pillar 1: Pure for the future

This ambitious programme aims to fulfill the commitment that The Datai Langkawi is zero waste to landfill or the sea by being a sustainable business by creating a circular economy. This is achieved by making recyclable products, upcycling or transporting back into nature via an organic farm. The Datai work in partnership with the Kansha Life Project works towards developing new skills sets building a self-sufficient lifestyle and studying waste material. 

Relevant Experiences at The Datai for guests: Sustainability Tour, Permaculture Garden Walk, Upcycling Workshop

Pillar 1 Objectives

• Zero Waste To Landfill

In 2023, The Datai Langkawi reached saving 96% of waste going to landfill, equalling 48,149Kg of waste.

Guests can take part in an open and transparent ‘Sustainability Tour’ which covers many of the waste reduction aspects at the resort. We learnt during the session with assistant sustainability manager, Zakwan Zamri, how drinking water is prepared (The Datai Water as its referred to) by double deionising and running it through limestone to add minerals as well as correcting pH.

Around 600 glass bottles per day, from wine and other beverages have their labels removed before being crushed in a machine. The crushed glass is combined with shredded plastic which is then used for flooring on the resorts paths and gardens. Some of this is also sold on to construction companies.

Images: Bottles in the glass recycling plant, crushed and mixed with plastic and ready for use on the resort paths.

The sustainability tour also delves into food waste and working towards the resorts efforts to recycle, redistribute and repurpose. Food waste from meals is separated and manually put into a compactor which shreds and dries out the water with any excess used in the kitchen garden. The waste from this process is combined with dry coconut shells and turned by hand for a month.

The food waste ready to be macerated for use as compost

This creates a rich compost that has the perfect properties and conditions to grow vegetables which are then used for cooking and fed back to guests. This is the perfect sustainable loop that reduces foods coming in and waste going out.  

The Coconut shells ready to be mixed with macerated food waste and turned by hand. The permaculture garden also has a wormery

Food trimming such as meat and harder food stuffs are donated to local dog shelters so they are saving money on feeding dogs waiting to be rehoused. 

Non recyclable waste such as cigarette butts and nappies are heated in an incinerator and turned into non toxic ashes for use in the garden areas.

The incinerator that produces non-toxic ash from non-recyclable waste and the compost area.

Some stats from 2023:

• 100% of food waste was transformed into soil for cultivating plants and herbs or donated to the community for animal feed.

• 92% of dry waste was processed through the banning of single use plastics; and recycling and up cycling materials. 
• A total of 88,241 glass bottles, 357 Kg of Styrofoam, 21 Kg of plastic, 4 Kg slippers, were crushed for recycling.
• 6,774kg of used cooking oil was sold for recycling.

• Reducing Their Carbon Footprint

In 2022, the resort looked to become Carbon Neutral. By working with the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Pantas Climate Solution to enhance decarbonisation efforts. This resulted in omission of 263 tons of carbon polluting by not sending waste to landfill.

The Datai also has research projects being undertaken into how much Carbon is being used in total on the resort including taking individual guest quotas into consideration. This includes the carbon involved in guests travel to Langkawi via air, all transport and including their whole stay. 

• Community Outreach

Focus on local heritage and culture is important, therefore the pledge supports craft making workshops like batik, soap making as well as helping schools, disadvantaged members of the local community and small local businesses. 

Local villagers are sustainable in employment by being provided with used materials from the resort such as slippers that guests don’t take away with them to be made into footstools. Used candles from guest rooms are made into beautiful intricately patterned recycled ones by remelting the old used stubs. 

Local entrepreneurs, one such example being the Datai’s Bee Farmer is supported by the resort. He creates hives, which the hotel purchases from him. The honey from the stingless bees is used at the resort and interested guests can also partake in a bee keeper experience with the Bee Farmer. 

• Guest & Staff Education Workshops

Partnering with the local community, guests can experience ‘green living’. This includes activities like the Upcycling Workshop.

One of the most fun activities for those who like a spot of hands on creativity is the up cycling workshop where guests can reflect on the sustainability efforts of the resort through reducing waste to the environment and conserving natural resources to lower their carbon footprint.

We spent a morning making candles from partially used candles left in guest rooms as well as vegan soaps using florals from the Permaculture garden and beeswax wraps from old linens no longer in use at the resort. The activity is guided, step by step and led by a knowledgeable member of the team. Later in the day, the items are delivered to your room, beautifully wrapped in recycled paper to take home. 

The Lab where the Up cycling Workshop takes place is a building, a unique combination of recycled champagne, wine, spirit and beer bottles as well as used plastic items:

• the interior and exterior back walls feature 280 kg of crushed plastic.
• the interior flooring incorporates 4,769 crushed glass bottles.
• the exterior walls and pillars are made up of 3,199 whole bottles.

A total of 7,968 bottles of glass were used to create The Lab.

Pillar 2: Fish For The Future

Through habitat destruction and unsustainable fishing practices have negatively impacted the biodiversity, therefore the resort is working with the Department of Fisheries and the state government to protect the bay as a marine protected area and to safeguard the bay’s coral reefs for the future.

The resort is assisting Maracet, dedicated to marine mammal conservation and protection of their habitats through community awareness and education, conservation action, and policy advocacy on a government level, with dolphin research on Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins and Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoises.

Relevant Experiences at The Datai for guests: Beach Walks, Coral Workshops, Adopt a Coral.

Pillar: 2 Objectives

• Coral Regeneration 

Datai bay has coral frames and nubbins to help increase the population of coral as well as adding five coral reefs and ensuring there’s an environment for fish to continue feeding in the sea. The Coral Nursery is set up to help nurse coral broken by boats or manually by human intervention, The damaged coral is rehabilitated for around six months before being replanted in an artificial reef. Guests can take part in the ‘adopt a coral’ programme and become familiar with aspects of damaged coral and how it’s taken care of in the nursery before being transported back to the man made reefs.

• Sustainable Fishing

The resorts work with the Department of Fisheries, that aims to raise awareness of why sustainable fishing is so important. More than 90 local fisherman have taken part on fishing sessions to ensure the way fish is bought to the table is done responsibly.

• Adoption Programmes

In February 2022, participants are able to adopt a coral which is being rehabilitated in the resort’s coral nursery and take part on planting them onto the coral reef. MareCet and the resort are hoping to launch; adopt a dolphin’ where all proceeds from dolphins adopted around Langkawi can help support NGO partners.

• Other Effective Area- Based Conservation Measures (OECM)

Marine biologists and the Department of Fisheries and Reseasrch institute are working to enable Datai Bay to have Protected Status under the OECM. January 2024 saw a sonar recording buoy to allow data to be collected of the behaviour of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin and other marine mammals, in order to contribute towards Protected Status

Pillar 3: Wildlife for the Future

Deforestation due to the the rise in development, global warming and many other factors have led to the extinction of wildlife in Langkawi. This portion of the  pledge aims to protect and restore responsibly the fauna of the island by partnering with Gaia, a social enterprise that focuses on wildlife conservation. As well as the resort working with Gaia who are currently places a lot of conservation on hornbills, they are providing funding for producing educational materials for community outreach and schools to maintain fig tree nurseries in Borneo and to grow plants that hornbills love.

Pillar 3: Objectives

• Deforestation 

Seedlings are cared for at the resorts Tree Nursery which then are planted around Langkawi’s rainforests.  The resort also works with the Forestry Department to plant over 1,000 trees at either side of roadsides to create a canopy for wildlife to forage for food.

• Habitat Restoration

Referred to as ‘Nature’s Garden’ Hornbill’s help the spread fruit seeds over long distances which keeps the eco-system going. Sadly due to poaching hornbill species are becoming extinct together with deforestation, destroying their nests. The resort partnership with Gaia has created artificial nesting boxes to ensure hornbill babies survive.

• Wildlife Protection

This involves adding road signs so road users are aware of wildlife in the area, camera’s around the rainforest to study behaviour for further conservation as well as making Datai Bay a turtle friendly beach. This will be doen by adding turtle friendly plants, such as sea lettuce and reducing beach lighting.

• Adoption Programmes

There are two programmes currently at The Datai under this initiative.. The first is ‘Adopt a Hornbill Box’ (focussing on nesting boxes) and Adopt A Tree’ which aims to care for trees and replant parts of the rainforest.

Pillar 4: Youth For The Future

The future of the planet and its health is most definitely in the hands of the youth to nurture for generations to come. This initiative aims to ensure that young people are educated on the effects of global crisis, human interference  and climate control on sustainability and arming them with the knowledge on how to live an eco-friendly lifestyle.

Green Growth Asia Foundation’s (GGAF) run ‘green growth’ programmes in Asia and have launched the Eco-programme in school in Malaysia that supports the regular curriculum. It’s in partnership with the government and allows pupils to learn about conservation and environmental issues at school. The resort is currently sponsoring three schools in Langkawi whilst they work closely with them in implementing a sustainability curriculum.

Pillar 4 Objectives

• Engage in an Educational Community Partnership

In partnership with  NGO Green Growth Asia Foundation, the resort sponsors three schools in Langkawi; Sekolah Kebangsaan Ewa, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tunku Putra and Sekolah Kebangsaan Temonyong, to participate in the Kedah Eco-Schools Programme. 

• Implement Complimentary Educational Programmes

Due to the partnership with the GGAF, local school children, aged 10-24 years, have been able to visit The Datai and learn first hand about The Datai Pledge. This is achieved in a defined programme incorporating  investigative reporting, photography, and video journalism. There has been essay competitions with awards to bring greater meaning and importance around the pledges importance.

• Promote Continuous Learning

The schools youth webinar programme enables The Datai Pledge Pillar holders to hold webinars around sustainability, eco-tourism and conservation in Malaysia and globally. At present 890 students have been educated through the webinar sessions on ‘Sustainability and Hospitality’ as well as 1,233 students on the Eco-Schools programme.

The Datai Pledge Impact Reports: These documents detail the achievements and people at the heart of The Datai Pledge since its launch in 2020. It covers their commitment to the continued development of the community, wildlife and paradise that surrounds them. It’s an open and transparent way to share compiled information from the resorts efforts.

How is The Data Pledge Funded?

The Datai Langkawi provides the main source of funding to the implementation and maintenance of the The Datai Pledge. Other funding is received from guest donations, private donors and corporations. 

Purchasing incinerators, food compactors, a custom built bottling plant and more are essential items in meeting the initiatives of the pledge. 

Some Other way The Datai Pledge in Funded: 

• Guest Activities – 20% of all activity charges go towards The Datai Pledge, especially those with a direct pledge focus like the sustainability workshops, MareCet’s dolphin trips.
• Adopting hornbill nesting boxes and dolphins.
• Purchasing products in the The Datai Pledge initiative, made by local artisans such as recycled candles and hand blown glass artefacts from The Lab and the resort boutique will have 10% of proceeds going to the Pledge.
• Guests staying at The Datai Langkawi have MYR 40 added to their invoices per day to help fund the Datai Pledge and maintain its initiatives in sustainability.

Objectives For Guests Staying At The Datai, Langkawi.

One of the Datai Pledge objectives, as well as community, environment and wildlife and engaging industry, is to actively ensure that guests are taking part in initiatives to add value, understanding and a deeper connection with the ethos of the setting. Guests are therefore encouraged to immerse themselves in nature, wellbeing and new experiences as well as many of the workshops available at the resort. There are always small things guests can do like save water by not having their linens changed daily and use the baskets around the resort and beach as to solidify the plastic ban at The Datai.