A made-in-Singapore solution to the world's plastic waste problem

NUS scientists have found a way to turn plastic bottles and other wastes into 'one of the most promising materials in the 21st century'.
Derrick A Paulo and Anne-Marie Lim Channel NewsAsia 30 Dec 18;

SINGAPORE: Imagine there’s a way to turn the plastic waste that ends up in oceans and landfills into a life-saving material, say, for making cheap fire-resistant jackets for all people.

It isn’t hard to do – at least, not any more – for a team of researchers in Singapore dreaming of reducing environmental waste and sharing their breakthrough with the world.

These scientists from the National University of Singapore and the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology have converted polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles into a highly insulating and absorbent material called aerogel.

Aerogels, the lightest and most porous materials known to man, have existed since the 1930s – and were used to insulate the Mars Pathfinder rover in the 1990s.

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Malaysia moves to reap the benefits of processing global plastic waste

After China shut its doors to the world's plastic waste, Malaysia became a go-to destination for some countries looking to get rid of their trash.
Aqil Haziq Mahmud Channel NewsAsia 30 Dec 18;

KUALA LUMPUR: In a bright yellow terraced house near the intersection of a small but busy highway, Ngoo Kwi Hong stood up abruptly from her cushioned stool.

Her living room was losing light as dark clouds gathered over the sleepy town of Jenjarom, a 40-minute drive southwest of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. But Ngoo was determined to show the bags under her eyes.

She flicked on the light switch and pointed at her face. “I’ve not been able to sleep for days,” the 46-year-old told Channel NewsAsia in Malay. “At night I cannot breathe. I feel like dying.”

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How mountains of U.S. plastic waste ended up in Malaysia, broken down by workers for $10 a day

SHASHANK BENGALI Los Angeles Times 29 Dec 18;

In a derelict warehouse complex plastered with “For Rent” signs an hour from the Malaysian capital, four women squatted on upturned buckets. Their fingernails were cracked and nubby, their headscarves dampened with sweat.

Wielding hair dryers, they heated and peeled labels from a waist-high pile of discarded plastic electric meters. The stickers affixed to each of the plastic round gray casings bore the sun-like logo of a faraway power company: the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

How scrap from California ended up in a junkyard 8,500 miles away, broken down manually by workers earning $10 a day, is the story of the reshaping of the global garbage and recycling system.

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Best of our wild blogs: 29 Dec 18

Singapore Raptor Report – November 2018
Singapore Bird Group

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Giant trap to control Javan Myna population trialed in Potong Pasir

Vanessa Lim Channel NewsAsia 28 Dec 18;

SINGAPORE: A new method to control the Javan Myna population by trapping them in a giant net and culling them using carbon dioxide was being trialed in Potong Pasir, following complaints by residents about the noise made by such birds.

The "roost net system" was installed on Thursday (Dec 27) near Block 146 Potong Pasir Avenue 1, said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA). It has since been taken down and AVA said it will look into deploying the system in other areas where required.

There are currently about 2,800 mynas roosting in the area, said AVA, adding that the non-native, invasive bird species can cause hygiene and noise issues.

They can also pose a threat to native bird species as they compete for nesting and food resources.

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Attempt to smuggle 40 live birds foiled at Woodlands Checkpoint

Channel NewsAsia 28 Dec 18;

SINGAPORE: A man was caught trying to smuggle live birds into Singapore last Friday after authorities heard "some unusual noise" coming from his car as he was passing through Woodlands Checkpoint, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Friday (Dec 28).

In a Facebook post, ICA said the 49-year-old Singaporean had been driving a Singapore-registered car when he was stopped for further checks, during which officers detected the sounds coming from underneath the rear passenger seat.

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How a tsunami could wipe out the last Javan rhinos

BBC 28 Dec 18;

Conservationists have warned that the entire species of the critically endangered Javan rhino could be wiped out if a tsunami were to strike again.

They once roamed the jungles of South East Asia and India, but today only 67 exist in the Ujung Kulon National Park, which was hit by last week's tsunami.

The park sits in the shadow of Anak Krakatau, the volcano which triggered waves that killed hundreds of people.

The volcano remains active and officials are now rushing to move them.

Two park officials were among the 430 killed by the tsunami, and numerous park buildings and ships were also destroyed when the tsunami hit last Saturday.

But the Javan rhinos left in the park - the only ones left in the world - were left unscathed.

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Singapore’s proposed ivory ban would help save elephants

Reducing consumer demand coupled with government regulations and stricter enforcement will put an end to poaching imperiled species.
John Baker Channel NewsAsia 28 Dec 18;

CALIFORNIA: Is there a direct correlation between domestic bans and increased poaching? And if there is, does that mean countries like Singapore should abandon the proposed domestic ban? That’s the million-dollar question conservationists are debating.

Some local free-market conservationists argue that a ban on ivory will raise the perception of scarcity, drive up prices and snuff out demand.

At face value, it sounds reasonable. Diamonds are rare and they’re expensive. But upon closer inspection, this overly simplistic approach completely misses the point.

YES, AN IVORY BAN CAN BE EFFECTIVE

Ivory prices are down in China and Hong Kong, due to new domestic bans in these two of the biggest markets. Soon after China announced it would ban ivory in 2017, raw ivory prices fell to US$730 per kilogram, from US$2,100 per kilogram in 2014, according to Kenya-based conservation group, Save The Elephants’ researchers, Lucy Vigne and Esmond Martin.

That’s a substantial decrease of 65 per cent.

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SPCA to start new scheme to sterilise, manage strays

Cheow Sue-Ann The New Paper 28 Dec 18;

Community caretakers, members of the public and animal lovers will soon find it easier to get stray dogs sterilised.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said yesterday it will soon cease the current Sterilisation Voucher Programme and replace it with the nationwide trap-neuter-release-manage (TNRM) programme for stray dogs. The current sterilisation vouchers can be used till the end of this month.

The new programme, fully funded by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA), will remove the need for members of the public to trap the stray themselves.

SPCA's executive director, Dr Jaipal Singh Gill, said: "Members of the public can approach any participating animal welfare group (AWG) to notify them about community dogs that require sterilisation.

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128 contractors taken to task since January for flouting drainage regulations: PUB

Cheryl Lin Channel NewsAsia 27 Dec 18;

SINGAPORE: In the first 11 months of this year, 128 contractors have been prosecuted and fined for a total of 203 offences involving unauthorised alterations and interference to the public drainage system or flouting Earth Control Measure (ECM) regulations.

This was revealed by Singapore's national water agency PUB in a press statement on Thursday (Dec 27).

The numbers represent an increase from 2017, which saw 104 contractors charged for a total of 141 offences.

Some of the more common offences include inadequate treatment capacity and lack of cut-off drains which separate clean water from silty water. As a result, silty water overflows from construction sites to nearby waterways during heavy rainfall.

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Indonesia raises alert, widens danger zone around volcano

SYAWALLUDIN ZAIN and NINIEK KARMINI, Associated Press Yahoo News 28 Dec 18;

CARITA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia raised the danger level for an island volcano that triggered a tsunami on the weekend, killing at least 430 people in Sumatra and Java, and widened its no-go zone.

The country's volcanology agency on Thursday increased the Anak Krakatau volcano's alert status to the second-highest and more than doubled the exclusion zoneto a 5-kilometer (3-mile) radius. The eruption on Saturday evening caused part of the island in the Sunda Strait to collapse into the sea, apparently generating tsunami waves of more than 2 meters (6 1/2 feet). Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes.

The government has warned communities in the strait to stay a kilometer (less than a mile) away from the coastline because of the risk of another tsunami triggered by Anak Krakatau's eruptions. A navy vessel was expected to pass by the island, which could give scientists more information about the risks of a second collapse.

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Climate change: Huge costs of warming impacts in 2018

Matt McGrath BBC 27 Dec 18;

Extreme weather events linked to climate change cost thousands of lives and caused huge damage throughout the world in 2018, say Christian Aid.

The charity's report identified ten events that cost more than $1bn each, with four costing more than $7bn each.

Scientists have shown that the chances of heat waves in Europe were influenced directly by human-related warming.

Other events, say the authors, are due to shifts in weather patterns, said to be a consequence of climate change.

According to the report the most financially costly disasters linked to rising temperatures were Hurricanes Florence and Michael, with costs said to be around $17bn for the former, and $15bn for the latter.

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