A putrid puddle filled with rubbish lies below a mountain of plastic scrap at an illegal dumpsite next to a palm oil plantation in Jenjarom, Klang, near Malaysia’s largest port.
In the same Selangor town, about 70km from Kuala Lumpur, plastic waste is stacked in bags in factories, their contents spilling out onto the ground.
Much of the waste isn’t from Malaysia. It comes from abroad, part of an immense global trade in plastic waste. What can’t be recycled is burned or dumped in landfills, rivers and oceans, putting paid to the myth that most plastic thrown out by rich nations is properly handled at home.
Until recently, China was the top importer of the world’s plastic, paper and metal scrap.
But a ban implemented from Dec 31, 2017, disrupted the trade and the Chinese government has since moved to expand the import ban to 32 types of solid waste from 24, starting from Dec 31 last year.
Plastic, though, remains perhaps the most insidious and destructive waste material. It makes up 90% of all marine debris, according to environmental group Greenpeace, and annually an estimated eight million tonnes of plastic waste is dumped into the world’s oceans, killing seabirds, whales, turtles and other marine life and fouling beaches and reefs.
Shipped from countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland, the plastic waste is bought by illegal recycling factories that mushroomed in Malaysia and other countries in South-east Asia after China banned plastic waste imports in January last year.
Since then, Malaysia has quickly taken its spot as the world’s dumping ground, taking in 754,000 tonnes of plastic between January and July last year (2018) – the weight of about 100,000 large elephants, according to Greenpeace.
In 2017, Malaysia imported 450,000 tonnes of plastic, up from 287,670 tonnes in 2016, going by Belgium-based Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) estimates.
According to Greenpeace, the US was the top plastic waste exporter to Malaysia between January and July last year, with 195,445 tonnes, followed by Japan with 104,920 tonnes, and Britain with 95,248 tonnes.
ILLEGAL DUMPING
But after struggling with the increased shipments of trash, and complaints of health and environmental problems from residents, the Malaysian government decided the country would not be the “trash can” for developed nations, and shut down 114 illegal plastic recycling factories, suspended imports of plastic waste for three months and tightened the criteria needed to apply for licences to import plastic waste for recycling.
A report by Greenpeace released on Nov 27 exposed the “recycling myth”, saying high-income nations that diligently sort out their trash are not recycling it, but merely exporting it to other countries.
The group warned of environmental impacts, including seepage of polluted water into rivers and prawn ponds.
“Worldwide, only 9% of plastic waste is actually being recycled,” Greenpeace said, adding that 12% is incinerated and the remaining 79% ends up in landfills or is dumped elsewhere on land, and in rivers and oceans.
BIG BUSINESS
Greenpeace says the global treatment of waste needs to be overhauled and dealt with properly at the source.
Better still, all nations should greatly reduce single-use plastics, such as bottles, straws, plastic bags and food wrappers.
“The problem is not only a Malaysian problem. The international waste trade system itself is broken and based on false assumptions about what really happens with waste,” said Mr Heng Kiah Chun, public engagement campaigner at Greenpeace Malaysia.
“All countries should put in place policies to reduce the use of single-use plastics to a point where waste export, landfill or incineration is unnecessary. Malaysia and other developing countries should not be the dumping ground for plastic waste that other countries should be dealing with themselves,” he said.
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Source: The Straits Times, 22 January 2019