Malaysia, which is becoming a dumping ground for plastic waste by other countries, will slap a levy on such imports to halt the growing environmental problem.

The situation became critical after China banned plastic imports, leading to a huge impact on the global recycling system.

Countries such as Britain have begun to look to other places such as Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to offload such wastes.

Here in Kuala Langat for example, which is a town about 60km away from Kuala Lumpur, it has emerged as a hotbed of plastic waste with about 40 unlicensed factories processing imported plastic.

For months, residents have been complaining of health and pollution problems which they believed originated from these factories operating close to their neighbourhoods.

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin, who made a spot check here yesterday, announced that a levy would be imposed at RM15 per tonne of plastic waste after Oct 23, when the freeze on approved permits (AP) on plastic waste import ends.

Natural Heritage of Malaysia (Peka) president Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil questioned why the factories were allowed in Malaysia.

“Are we so hard up for money? It’s all about greed. We should not be a dumping ground.

“I feel really sorry for those staying around the affected areas. It feels like a different planet,” she said, referring to the factories in the Banting area.

Ecotourism and Conservation Society Malaysia CEO Andrew Sebastian said that plastic waste was a pollutant that had serious long-term implications.

“We have not even managed to fully recycle plastic waste in the country and yet we are allowing more pollutants into the country. It seems nonsensical to me,” he said.

He also asked if the DOE was keeping a close watch on the industry.

Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) research officer S. Mageswary said Pua’s association contacted Kuala Langat District Council (MDKL) in July.

“We visited them about two days later and went to several of the illegal plants,” she said.

“If they are burning plastics with chlorine content, there will be dioxin and furans. These are carcinogenic and can cause cancer."

“And then there are also the ultra fine particles which can lodge into the lungs and cause breathing difficulties,” said Mageswary.

She noted that there was also the issue of ground and surface water getting polluted.

GEORGE TOWN: They wash tonnes of plastic waste each day and release an unimaginable cocktail of organic and chemical fluids into the public drainage.

Then at night, they burn plastics which cannot be recycled, creating an acrid stench and releasing cancer-causing dioxins into the air.

The state estimates there are up to 200 enterprises recycling plastic waste in Penang, and only 27 of them are licensed.

“Just the licensed ones import 109,655 tonnes of plastic waste a month... a month!” said Penang Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh.

He did not discount the possibility that some of the legal ones import the mountains of plastic waste and then “sub” them out to the illegal ones to handle.

“We will check their capacity. If their factories can only handle, say, 1,000 tonnes a month, why did they get approved permits (AP) to import 4,000 tonnes?” he said.

Since China banned the import of plastic waste for recycling from Dec 31 last year, the waste is beginning to pile up in other parts of the world and Malaysia is getting a share.

“Plastic waste from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Europe come here.

“Penang and Klang are hotspots and plastic recyclers in Ipoh are increasing too,” Phee said.

Recyclers sort the plastic waste, wash them and then melt them back into raw plastic pellets for sale.

It is a relatively simple process but it is a polluting industry and Malaysian laws have strict compliance requirements for it.

#RiverPollution #AirPollution #GroundWaterPollution #Dengue #LoveMalaysia #SaveMalaysia

reference
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/09/26/illegal-recyclers-mushrooming-in-penang/#HwYlLB01g6QSKamS.99​

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/09/26/illegal-operators-giving-us-a-bad-name-says-mpma/#GHpsxP2yFqYfWqmf.99​

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/09/26/levy-for-plastic-waste-imports-more-countries-looking-to-offload-material-in-msia-after-ban-in-china/#VIRJjQ7MDSxVKbWQ.99

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/09/26/residents-fear-the-worst-with-plastic-burning/