Thursday, November 1, 2018

Plastic Waste: Malaysia Struggles As global Scrap Piles Up

Plastic waste is piled outside an illegal recycling factory in Jenjarom, Kuala Langat October 14, 2018. — Reuters pic

"Dozens of factories have opened up in Malaysia to handle that waste, many without an operating licence, using low-end technology and harmful methods of disposal."

(Reuters - 25 October 2018)

Hundreds of sacks filled with plastic waste from the United States, Britain, South Korea and Spain spill onto the streets of an industrial zone in Pulau Indah, an island town just an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur and home to Malaysia’s biggest port.

The stench of burning plastic and fumes from nearly a dozen recycling factories wafts through the neighbourhood, even as more container-loads of plastic waste are unloaded.

Pulau Indah — ironically, the name means “beautiful island” in Malay — is one of many towns in Malaysia where illegal plastic recycling factories have popped up in recent months as the South-east Asian nation became the top choice for plastic waste exporters from around the world.

The trigger for this dumping deluge was a Chinese ban on waste imports from the beginning of this year, which disrupted the flow of more than 7 million tonnes of plastic scrap a year.

Malaysia quickly became the leading alternative destination, importing nearly half a million tonnes of plastic waste between January and July from just its top 10 source-countries.

Dozens of factories have opened up in Malaysia to handle that waste, many without an operating licence, using low-end technology and harmful methods of disposal.

“The situation is getting worse, especially with more and more illegal plastic recycling factories,” Yeo Bee Yin, Malaysia’s minister of energy, technology, science, climate change and environment, told parliament last week.

Used plastic is recycled into pellets, which are then used to manufacture other plastic products, but the process comes with pollution risks.

Plastic unsuitable for recycling is burnt, which releases toxic chemicals into the atmosphere. Or it ends up in landfill, potentially contaminating soil and water sources.

Yeo said she does not want Malaysia to be the “trash can” for developed nations, but Housing Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin, who oversees the waste management department, told Reuters that the government also does not want to miss out on a business that could be worth billions.

Both ministers are members of a government committee studying its options for dealing with the growing pile of plastic waste.

Burning plastic

In the Pulau Indah industrial zone, Reuters reporters saw nearly a dozen recycling plants, many of them without signboards or company names, though government data shows only two factories in that area have a licence to import plastic waste.

One of the bigger ones, Jingye Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, was shut down in August for not having a licence, according to an official notice seen by Reuters. But workers in the factory and others nearby say it reopened within weeks, and when Reuters reporters visited earlier this month, it was operating. Plastic waste was stacked up within the premises and all along the road.

The factory supervisor declined to comment. Company records show Jingye was set up in Malaysia in October 2017, three months after China said it would ban imports of foreign waste from 2018.

Reuters could not reach the owners of the factory and no contact details were listed in records.

One worker in the industrial zone, who did not want to be identified, said there were as many as eight illegal factories in the zone and many openly burned plastic that cannot be recycled.

“Every night they burn. I see black smoke at night, so I go over and ask him ‘why are you trying to kill me?’ They ignore me,” he said.

In the nearby district of Kuala Langat, authorities found 41 factories operating illegally, many of them run by Chinese companies, according to Housing Minister Zuraida.

Around 30 were shut down by authorities in the last three months after residents complained of open burning of plastic and health complications.

Plastic waste is piled outside an illegal recycling factory in Jenjarom, Kuala Langat October 14, 2018. — Reuters pic

Stricter rules

It is unclear how the illegal factories are sourcing plastic waste.

Zuraida said some of the 95 companies that have a permit to import and recycle such waste are subcontracting to illegal factories as they lack the capacity to handle such volumes.

Malaysia’s imports of plastic waste from its 10 biggest source-countries jumped to 456,000 tonnes between January and July, versus 316,600 tonnes purchased in all of 2017 and 168,500 tonnes in 2016.

The United States, the world’s top exporter of plastic waste, sent 178,238 tonnes of such waste to Malaysia between January and July, nearly twice as much as it sent to second top destination, Thailand, according to the United Nations’ trade database and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries. Britain, another big plastic waste exporter, sends a quarter of its waste to Malaysia, also more than any other country.

Environment Minister Yeo estimated that the plastic recycling industry would earn Malaysia RM3.5 billion this year. Zuraida said she planned to introduce new rules soon that will make it harder for factories to qualify for an import licence.

“I understand plastic recycling is quite lucrative. So I am also thinking should we miss this economic opportunity? This is something the committee will study,” Zuraida told Reuters.

If such an option is pursued, Malaysia would do so on strict terms, require high-end, green technology and allow factories to operate only in heavy industrial areas, she said.

The factories are currently located haphazardly, including near or within residential areas. In Kuala Langat, southwest of Kuala Lumpur, a massive recycling factory nestled between palm plantations was shut down three months ago.

But 3m tall towers of plastic waste — mostly consumer packaging material from the United States, Britain, France, Netherlands, Germany and Australia — were still piled in the front yard. A large plot of land next to the factory has been turned into a dumping site for scrap.

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BAJET HARAPAN 2019

PAKAR EKOLOGI HARAP PUTRAJAYA
FOKUS ISU ALAM SEKITAR

(FMT/Bernama. November 1, 2018)

PETALING JAYA: Seorang pakar ekologi dan pencinta alam sekitar berharap kerajaan Pakatan Harapan akan menyediakan peruntukan kepada pihak berkuasa terbabit dalam pemuliharaan dan penjagaan alam sekitar.

Andrew Sebastian berkata, Malaysia antara 12 negara di dunia yang kaya dengan sumber alam semula jadi, oleh itu kerajaan perlu menyediakan peruntukan untuk mengelakkan pencemaran dan hakisan berterusan.

Beliau juga berharap kerajaan dapat menaikkan gaji penguatkuasa di Jabatan Perlindungan Hidupan Liar dan Taman Negara Semenanjung Malaysia (Perhilitan) serta Jabatan Alam Sekitar bagi mengelakkan gejala rasuah yang menyebabkan kegiatan pembalakan haram dan penerokaan hutan berleluasa.

“Pemburuan haram masih berleluasa dan memerlukan peruntukan untuk tambah jumlah kakitangan dan peralatan.

“Pekerja lapangan perhilitan perlu diambil kira untuk dinaikkan gaji supaya gejala rasuah dapat dielakkan secara berperingkat,” katanya kepada FMT menjelang pembentangan Bajet 2019 esok.

Beliau berkata, Jabatan Alam Sekitar memerlukan peruntukan besar untuk memantau dan mengawal pencemaran alam, sungai, hakisan tanah, pantai serta lereng bukit.

“Jabatan Perikanan dan Jabatan Taman Laut juga perlu bajet besar bagi pengendalian taman laut, pemantauan dan penambahbaikan, serta lebih fokus kepada perubahan iklim agar dapat menyelamatkan batu karang dan hidupan laut yang terancam.”

Pada 19 Oktober lalu, kejadian tanah runtuh di tapak projek Lebuhraya Berkembar Bukit Kukus, Paya Terubong, Pulau Pinang meragut 9 nyawa, manakala 4 lagi cedera.

Kejadian pada jam 1.56 tengah hari itu turut menimbus 13 kontena dan sebuah rumah kongsi.

Sebuah jawatankuasa khas yang ditubuhkan kerajaan Pulau Pinang untuk menyiasat punca tragedi itu akan memulakan sesi pendengaran Khamis depan.

Hari ini, Timbalan Ketua Menteri I, Datuk Ahmad Zakiyuddin Abdul Rahman dilaporkan berkata, jawatankuasa itu mempunyai tempoh sebulan sehingga akhir bulan ini untuk melengkapkan siasatan.

Sementara itu, Presiden Persatuan Perunding dan Syarikat Alam Sekitar Malaysia, Datuk Dr Nadzri Yahaya berkata, pemuliharaan alam perlu diketengahkan dalam usaha melindungi alam sekitar daripada dimusnahkan manusia sendiri.

Katanya, kerajaan perlu menjalankan kajian menyeluruh bagi mengenal pasti kawasan terhakis dan mencari jalan mengelakkan ia berlarutan.

“Pemuliharaan alam sekitar bukan hanya melihat isu plastik, tetapi penghakisan tanah runtuh juga perlu dilihat dalam Bajet 2019 bagi mendapat jawapan menyeluruh untuk mengenal pasti kawasan yang selalu menghadapi masalah tanah runtuh,” katanya ketika dihubungi FMT.

Beliau juga berharap kerajaan akan memberi insentif kepada rakyat untuk menggalakkan penggunaan tenaga boleh diperbaharui.

“Kerajaan sedang membuat paten untuk teknologi elektrik, jadi kita berharap terdapat insentif untuk menggalakkan penggunaan tenaga boleh diperbaharui.”

EARTH DAY...

The History Of Earth Day

Each year, Earth Day—April 22—marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.

The height of counterculture in the United States, 1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” War raged in Vietnam and students nationwide overwhelmingly opposed it.

At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. “Environment” was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.

Although mainstream America largely remained oblivious to environmental concerns, the stage had been set for change by the publication of Rachel Carson’s New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962. The book represented a watershed moment, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries, and beginning to raise public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and links between pollution and public health.

Earth Day 1970 gave voice to that emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns on the front page.

The Idea

The idea for a national day to focus on the environment came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda.

Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes from Harvard as national coordinator.

Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land. April 22, falling between Spring Break and Final Exams, was selected as the date.

On April 22,1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies.

Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. By the end of that year, the first Earth Day had led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and EndangeredSpecies Acts. “It was a gamble,” Gaylord recalled, “but it worked.”

As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage.

Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It also prompted President Bill Clinton to award Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1995)—the highest honor given to civilians in the United States—for his role as Earth Day founder.

Earth Day Today

As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. With 5,000 environmental groups in a record 184 countries reaching out to hundreds of millions of people, Earth Day 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990.

Earth Day 2000 used the power of the Internet to organize activists, but also featured a drum chain that traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC for a First Amendment Rally. Earth Day 2000 sent world leaders the loud and clear message that citizens around the world wanted quick and decisive action on global warming and clean energy.

Much like 1970, Earth Day 2010 came at a time of great challenge for the environmental community. Climate change deniers, well-funded oil lobbyists, reticent politicians, a disinterested public, and a divided environmental community all contributed to the narrative—cynicism versus activism. Despite these challenges,

Earth Day prevailed and Earth Day Network reestablished Earth Day as a relevant, powerful focal point. Earth Day Network brought 250,000 people to the National Mall for a Climate Rally, launched the world’s largest environmental service project—A Billion Acts of Green®–introduced a global tree planting initiative that has since grown into The Canopy Project, and engaged 22,000 partners in 192 countries in observing Earth Day.

Earth Day had reached into its current status as the largest secular observance in the world, celebrated by more than a billion people every year, and a day of action that changes human behavior and provokes policy changes.

Today, the fight for a clean environment continues with increasing urgency, as the ravages of climate change become more manifest every day. We invite you to be a part of Earth Day and help write many more chapters—struggles and victories—into the Earth Day book.

Stay tuned! 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. In honor of this milestone, Earth Day Network is preparing to announce an ambitious set of goals to shape the future we need.

- See more at: http://www.earthday.org/about/the-history-of-earth-day/#sthash.ITTv4c1o.dpuf

FEATURES - TOILETS

LACK OF ACCESS TO TOILETS ENDANGERS MILLIONS OF CHILDREN, SAYS UNICEF

BANGKOK (Thursday, 19 November 2015): Lack of access to toilets is endangering millions of the world's poorest children, the United Nations Children's Fund said today, pointing to emerging evidence of links between inadequate sanitation and malnutrition.

UNICEF said some 2.4 billion people globally do not have toilets and 946 million - roughly one in eight of the world's population - defecate in the open.

In the East Asia and Pacific region, 519 million people are still without access to improved sanitation, and progress in the Pacific sub-region has been stagnant in recent years, it said in a statement.

"Good sanitation and hygiene is critical to keep children healthy," said Chander Badloe, UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific regional advisor on water, sanitation and hygiene.

"In East Asia and the Pacific, 770 million more people are accessing better sanitation facilities than 25 years ago - remarkable progress. However, there is still much to be done: 83 million people are still without any toilet facilities and are defecating in the open. This leads to sickness and disease, and is linked to the 15 million children affected by stunting in the region."

A report - Improving Nutrition Outcomes with Better Water, Sanitation and Hygiene - released today by UNICEF, USAID and the World Health Organisation, for the first time, brings together years of research and case studies which demonstrate the link between sanitation and malnutrition.

"We need to bring concrete and innovative solutions to the problem of where people go to the toilet, otherwise we are failing millions of our poorest and most vulnerable children," said Sanjay Wijesekera, head of UNICEF's global water, sanitation and hygiene programmes.

"The proven link with malnutrition is one more thread that reinforces how interconnected our responses to sanitation have to be if we are to succeed."

Globally, diarrhoea accounts for nine per cent of the deaths of children under five years old each year and is essentially a faecal-oral disease where germs are ingested due to contact with infected faeces. Where rates of toilet use are low, rates of diarrhoea tend to be high.

Children under five years old suffer 1.7 billion cases of diarrhoea per year, UNICEF said.

Those in low-income countries are hit hardest, with an average of three episodes per year. The highest frequency is in children under two years of age, who are weakest and most vulnerable. Multiple episodes of diarrhoea permanently alter their gut, and prevent the absorption of essential nutrients, putting them at risk of stunting and even death.

Some 300,000 children under five years old die per year - over 800 every day - from diarrhoeal diseases linked to inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene. The poorest children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are particularly at risk.

Intestinal parasites such as roundworm, whipworm and hookworm are transmitted through contaminated soil in areas where open defecation is practiced. Hookworm is a major cause of anaemia in pregnant women, leading to malnourished, underweight babies.

FEATURES - MARINE PARK

PROTECTING MARINE PARKS EASIER SAID THAN DONE

By Sakini Mohd Said (Bernama)

PUTRAJAYA: A recent news report highlighted the concerns of an NGO of the impending decline of the country's fishing industry.

The World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia) said that this was due to several pressing factors. Among them are the non-environmentally friendly methods of fishing, sea pollution and unsustainable coastal development, which all contribute to the marked degradation of coral reefs.

Coral reefs support more species than any other marine environment, making them of significant ecological importance to the survival of marine life.

WWF-Malaysia CEO Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma in a news report said that the RM8.79 billion fishing industry might see the extinction of popular seafood like groupers and snappers, unless sustainable ocean management practices were implemented.

"Just 10 percent of commercially valuable fish remain available for consumption after being largely fished out in the last fifty years," he said.

Quoting the "Living Blue Planet" report, Sharma said the destruction of the world's coral reefs have resulted in the global reduction of marine populations by half. Some fish species have declined by close to 75 percent, all of which have impacted the fishing industry.

MARINE PARK

Perhaps some would question how the statistics would impact them, as it did not specifically relate to Malaysia. However, the findings are more relevant than they think.

"Malaysia, with its expanse of open seas, is highly dependent on sea resources," said Robecca Jumin, the Marine Division Head of the Marine Programme of WWF-Malaysia.

In fact, in 2014, Malaysia surpassed Japan as one of the biggest consumer of fish and seafood in the region.

"On the average, every person in Malaysia consumes at least 56.5kg of fish every year," she said.

The government has tried to address the problem using various measures such as continual monitoring and enforcement operations.

However, a more pragmatic approach would be the gazetting of marine parks.

Robecca said that the waters around 42 islands in the country have been gazetted as marine parks. The move is for the protection and conservation of marine biodiversity, particularly coral reefs, which are essential to the propagation of aquatic life.

Thirteen islands have been gazetted as marine parks in Terengganu, nine in Pahang, four in Kedah, three in Labuan and 13 in Johor.

LIMIT TOURISM

Marine parks were first established to address the decline of fishing resources around coral reefs.

Healthy coral reefs provide habitat, spawning and nursery grounds for most of young marine life until they are mature enough to go out into the open sea.

The Marine Parks Department Director General Dr Sukarno Wagiman said marine parks were a treasure trove of marine diversity with high socio-economic value.

This inevitably tempts many a rogue parties to trespass into the area and violate the regulations for economic gains.

This presents a challenge to the department as some of the breaches happen during permitted activities such as swimming, scuba diving and kayaking.

Unrestricted water recreational activities such as diving and snorkelling also have adverse effects on the ecosystem of coral reefs due to the collecting and trampling of corals.

STUDY

To address the problem, the department is running a study with Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) on the "carrying capacity" of marine parks.

"The study lets us find out how many people can an area accommodate at a time (without ecologically disturbing it). For example, how many people should be permitted to go snorkelling at a time?

"The study has so far only been carried out on Pulau Perhentian and Pulau Redang. Perhaps next year, we can get a comprehensive report and from there a policy can be formed," said Sukarno.

However, the findings would still be subjected to the joint decision of the tourism industry, state government, local authorities and Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

This is because the business and tourism operator licensing authority lies outside the jurisdiction of the department.

ZONES

The department has also split marine parks into four zones in the bid to protect the diminishing marine resources, namely for tourism/recreation, conservation, preservation and protection of habitats.

This is to ensure the survivability of coral reefs, which are a crucial part of the ecosystem of over 3,000 marine species.

"For example, the El Nino in 2010 caused severe bleaching of the corals in Malaysian waters.

"The department had to close down several areas and classify them as a conservation zone to let the diseased or dying corals recover naturally," he explained.

Twelve of the 83 diving sites at marine parks were closed in 2010 following the repercussions from the El Nino. However, 48.33 percent of the corals recovered by 2013.

ARRESTS

In the bid to protect the biodiversity in marine parks, the department is teaming up with several marine authorities to curb illegal fishing activities in the area.

Among the agencies involved are the Fisheries Department, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the Royal Malaysia Police. The joint effort has resulted in 2,634 patrols in 2014.

"It is the Department of Marine Park's main duties to ensure the survivability and sustainability of marine biodiversity for the sake of the future generations," Sukarno said.

Besides patrols, the department also monitors the bottom of the sea for activities that can damage coral reefs such as fish shooting, collecting corals or stepping on them.

"We previously only monitored the ocean surface, but today we also monitor down to the bottom. This is to ensure that divers or snorkellers don't disturb marine life or drop their boat anchors onto corals," he explained.

There have been 566 of bottom sea patrols in 2014, resulting in a decrease of activities violating the Fisheries Act 1985.

As at September 2015, there have been 32 arrests in marine parks for the violation of the Act, involving RM29,850 in fines.

Marine parks are prohibited zones for any fishing activity under the Fisheries Act (Amendment)(1994) and anyone caught fishing in the prohibited area can be fined not more than RM20,000 or sentenced to two years in prison or both.

Thursday, November 1, 2018

Plastic Waste: Malaysia Struggles As global Scrap Piles Up

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