Hong Wai Onn

1. What motivated you to apply for Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) status?

My motivation for becoming a Chartered Environmentalist came from a growing realisation that environmental responsibility is inseparable from good engineering and sound business decisions.

As a chemical engineer, I was trained to understand processes as interconnected systems: how materials and energy flow, where resources are lost, why inefficiencies occur, and how operations can be improved. Over the course of my career, particularly in the palm oil and bioenergy sectors, I came to appreciate how valuable this way of thinking can be in addressing environmental challenges. Palm oil is an industry subject to considerable environmental scrutiny. Working closely with palm oil mills gave me a practical understanding of the issues behind that scrutiny.

Energy consumption, biomass utilisation, wastewater management, emissions and resource efficiency are closely connected to process design, equipment performance and operating practices. Addressing these challenges requires more than environmental awareness; it requires the ability to understand industrial processes and translate environmental objectives into workable solutions. This experience reinforced my belief that sustainability should be embedded in the way operations are designed, managed and improved, rather than treated as a separate consideration after the engineering decisions have been made.

I pursued Chartered Chemical Engineer (CEng) and Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) status together because I saw them as complementary dimensions of professional competence. CEng recognises my engineering competence, while CEnv recognises the importance of environmental knowledge, judgement and responsibility in applying that competence. For me, the two designations reflect a common professional purpose: to apply technical knowledge not only to make processes work, but to make them more resource-efficient, environmentally responsible and sustainable.

2. What impact has gaining CEnv had on your career?

Achieving CEnv strengthened the breadth of my professional recognition by bringing engineering competence and environmental responsibility together. Throughout my career, I have seen how technical decisions can influence environmental performance, resource efficiency and commercial outcomes. This perspective has become increasingly relevant as my work has extended into commercial leadership, energy transition and ESG.

CEnv has added credibility to my professional profile when engaging with industry stakeholders, senior leaders and professional communities on environmental and sustainability matters. It also provides a recognised basis for contributing to discussions that require both an understanding of technical realities and an appreciation of their wider environmental implications. For me, this is particularly important in bridging the gap between sustainability ambitions and the operational and commercial decisions needed to deliver them.

In Malaysia and across Southeast Asia, I see an opportunity to raise greater awareness of what CEnv represents and why environmental competence matters across different professions. It is always encouraging when a conversation leads someone to ask, “Hong, what is CEnv?” That simple question creates an opportunity to explain how environmental responsibility complements technical expertise and why it matters in today's professional and business environment. Beyond professional recognition, CEnv reinforces the way I approach problems. Rather than considering environmental performance in isolation, I look at how process improvements, technology choices, resource utilisation and investment decisions can work together to produce better outcomes.

Ultimately, I see CEnv as both recognition of my professional commitment and a responsibility to use my experience and expertise to help organisations make better-informed, more sustainable decisions.

3. What would you say to someone who is considering applying for CEnv?

I would encourage chemical engineers, in particular, to consider how their existing professional experience can contribute to environmental improvement. Our training gives us a strong foundation for understanding complex systems, optimising processes, improving resource efficiency and identifying the causes of operational problems. These capabilities are directly relevant to challenges such as decarbonisation, waste minimisation, pollution prevention and the responsible use of resources.

One example from the palm oil industry is the capture of methane from palm oil mill effluent and its use as biogas to generate electricity. Instead of allowing methane generated during wastewater treatment to escape into the atmosphere, appropriately designed and operated anaerobic digestion and biogas recovery systems can capture it for productive use. This can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while recovering energy from a waste stream and potentially offsetting purchased electricity or fossil fuel consumption. What makes this example particularly relevant to chemical engineers is the thinking behind the solution. It involves understanding biological processes, gas production, process control, energy conversion, equipment performance and operating economics. An environmental challenge becomes an opportunity to improve how resources are managed and how an industrial operation performs.

My advice is not to assume that CEnv is only for people whose job titles include “environment” or “sustainability”. Consider the environmental implications of the decisions you have made, the systems you have improved and the solutions you have helped implement. Your experience may be more relevant than you initially realise, although you will still need to demonstrate the required environmental competence through the assessment process.

For me, the underlying message is simple: chemical engineers can contribute to sustainability not by stepping away from engineering, but by applying their engineering expertise with a broader environmental perspective. CEnv is a meaningful way to demonstrate that commitment.