Dawn Chan New Straits Times 29 May 19;
PORT KLANG: Malaysia is putting a stop to the practice of dumping foreign garbage on its soil.
For a start, 60 containers filled with 3,000 tonnes of garbage will be shipped off to their countries of origin in the near future.
The first phase of the operation began by getting rid of 10 containers, filled to the brim with 450 tonnes of contaminated plastic waste. They originated from the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, China, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh.
The containers have been stuck at Westports Malaysia in Pulau Indah here since April last year. In addition, five containers have been sent back to Spain on April 29, while 50 other containers that have been brought in illegally are being inspected.
The Environmental Quality Act 1974 was enforced against the importers, made up of local players, beginning yesterday. A notice would be served on them with the instruction to start the process of shipping the containers back to the countries of origin (exporters).
The importers will have 14 days to complete the procedure of sending back the contaminated plastic waste. They have to bear the shipping and storage costs.
If they fail to do so, they risk legal action being taken against them.
Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin had yesterday inspected the containers to be shipped off at Westports Malaysia.
Having seen first-hand the amount of contaminated, non-homogeneous, low quality and non-recyclable plastic waste which was bound for processing facilities that do not have the technology to recycle them in an environmentally-sound manner, Yeo was visibly angry.
“I am very angry. I want to send this back. This (bread bag) plastic is from Canada. It is consumed in Canada and people diligently separate their waste to help the environment, but it ended up here instead,” Yeo said.
She said the containers were illegally brought into Malaysia under false declaration and other offences, which clearly violated the environmental law.
Yeo discovered milk bottles from Australia that were infested with dead maggots, electronic waste, electrical cables, wires, as well as a Carrefour supermarket plastic bag scrap.
One container from Bangladesh contained large bags of CDs, while another from China was found to have been filled with illegal waste but wrapped with clean packaging to mislead the authorities.
Yeo said the ministry, through the Department of Environment, had inspected 123 containers from countries such as the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Singapore, Norway and France. The process is ongoing.
At a press conference later, Yeo said the ministry’s one-month investigation had discovered that a recycling company in the United Kingdom had been exporting contaminated plastic waste to Malaysia for the past two years.
“In a span of two years, the company had exported 1,000 containers containing more than 50,000 tonnes of plastic waste. Citizens of the United Kingdom believe it is done for recycling purposes, but the waste is instead dumped in our country.
“This is serious as Malaysians are suffering from the consequences of air and water pollution. It is unfair and uncivilised.
“Malaysians have the right to clean air, clean water and sustainable resources.
“We urge the developed countries to review their management of plastic waste and stop shipping their garbage out to developing countries.”
Yeo cautioned that Malaysia would not hesitate to return the waste.
“We will fight back and not be bullied by developed countries. We view this seriously as it concerns our sovereignty and sustainability.”
She said the names of the recycling companies would be compiled to be sent to the respective governments, with calls made to take action.
Yeo added that other ports in Malaysia would be checked for containers with contaminated plastic waste.
She said Malaysians who had a hand in bringing in the foreign garbage were traitors to the country.
“Malaysians who import foreign garbage into Malaysia are traitors.
“They must be stopped and brought to justice.
“The government and our foreign counterparts have the responsibility to ensure that transboundary garbage does not happen again,” she said.
CAP: Ban all plastic waste imports
jo timbuong and ashley tang The Star 29 May 19;
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia must be firm and impose a total ban on plastic waste imports, said The Consumer Association of Penang (CAP).“It does not only harm the environment but is a burden to taxpayers who have to absorb the cost of cleaning up.
“Not all imported plastic can be processed. Especially those that are contaminated, mixed and low grade. Some were dumped in Ipoh and Sungai Petani, where it will be burned illegally and sent to cement kilns, causing toxic emission into the air.
“Not only will this harm the environment, we are also burdening our communities,” said CAP research officer S. Mageswari.
CAP believes putting a stop to the plastic trade is the right solution as illegal recyclers would only move to other premises when they are caught.
“The government has also revealed that the traders have been falsifying declaration forms by using other Harmonized System (HS) codes to bring in plastic scraps. This is the right time to measure and focus on the overall global production and consumption of plastic,” said Mageswari.
On May 19, she said Malaysia supported the move that required exporters to obtain consent of receiving countries before shipping contaminated, mixed and non-recyclable plastic waste.
“During the 14th Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention that involved some 180 countries, Norway proposed adding plastic to the Basel Convention as a step towards curbing the plastic waste trade crisis.
“This will stop the entry of unwanted plastic waste into their country,” she added.
However, the Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA) said a total ban on plastic imports could disrupt the overall supply chain in the circular economy.
“The local plastic industry is worth about RM30bil a year and about 80% of items made from recycled plastics are exported,” said MPMA vice-president C.C. Cheah adding that the industry supports other sectors such as electric and electronics, automotive, and manufacturing.
He also said the circular economy, in which products are designed to be disassembled and reused, is the way forward and scrap material is needed to fuel it.
He said strict enforcement on plastic imports could help matters and recent initiatives have been effective in shutting down illegal activities.
He also said the government’s support towards amending the Basel Convention, a UN treaty on the trade of plastic waste and its disposal, will help the problem.
Meanwhile, environmentalists believe that more needs to be done to educate the public to stop depending on single-use plastic before regulating the plastic trade.
Dr K. Kalithasan, River Care programme manager at the Global Environment Centre (GEC), said many people put convenience and style over sustainability.
This resulted in a growing amount of plastic waste that threatens water bodies, and even aquatic and human lives.
“It will take time to get people to buy into the idea of bringing their own containers and bags but we cannot take too long or the problem will worsen,” he said.
Kalithasan said there is a current movement to change from using non-biodegradable materials like styrofoam containers to ones made from more biodegradable materials but such a move hasn’t been effective in lessening the amount of waste disposed.
Kalithasan is glad that celebrities including members of royal families are opting for more sustainable solutions by bringing their own bags and food containers, setting a trend for others to follow.
The Selangor Crown Prince Tengku Amir Shah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and his sister Tengku Zatashah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah have won hearts for bringing their own tiffin carriers to the Ramadan Bazaar instead of opting for single-use containers.
Separately, Greenpeace Malaysia campaigner Heng Kiah Chun said developed countries must be responsible for what they send out.
“We recognise the Malaysian government’s positive action on the matter, which includes calling out and penalising those responsible for this mess. The government is taking the right action,” he said.
