Malaysian minister Yeo Bee Yin blasts
importers of illegal waste, vows to return 450 tonnes of rubbish to likes of
US, Japan
28 May, 2019
·
Environment minister Yeo Bee Yin says the Southeast Asian
country ‘won’t continue to be a dumping ground for developed nations’
·
The 10 shipping containers of refuse to be sent back also contain
plastic packaging and e-waste from Australia and Canada, among others
Malaysia’s environment minister Yeo Bee Yin says the country
will fight back against developed nations looking to dump their waste.
Malaysia will send back 10 shipping containers of
contaminated plastic waste illegally shipped from countries including the United States
and Japan , according to environment minister Yeo Bee Yin, who
labelled the local importers who allowed the rubbish in “traitors” to the
nation’s sustainability.
“Malaysia
won’t continue to be a dumping ground for the developed nations and those
responsible for destroying our ecosystem with these illegal activities are
traitors,” Yeo on Tuesday told reporters. “We will fight back. Even though we
are a small country, we will not be bullied.”
Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh are the other countries to which the 450 metric tonnes of refuse – which included milk cartons, plastic packaging, household waste and e-waste such as compact discs – will be returned.
We will fight back. Even though we are a small country, we will
not be bullied
A
container from China, Yeo said, had originated in France, but was diverted to
Malaysia after China banned imports of plastic waste last year.
Yeo said her Energy, Science,
Technology, Environment and Climate Change ministry would continue to clamp
down on containers brought into the country under “false declarations”.
“Garbage
is traded under the pretext of recycling,” she said. “Malaysians are forced to
suffer poor air quality due to open burning of plastics which leads to health
hazards, polluted rivers, illegal landfills, and a host of other related
problems.”
Ministry officials will also be
inspecting another 60 containers containing 3,000 metric tonnes of waste that
are expected to be shipped back following a “laborious and costly” process to
determine their contents and exporting country.
Malaysia
has, to date, inspected over 120 containers from countries such as Norway,
France, Britain, Japan, Australia and Germany.
The Southeast Asian nation on April 29
turned away five containers of waste from Spain as part of a nationwide
crackdown on the influx of imported contaminated waste, which has also seen the
closure of nearly 150 illegal plastic recycling facilities.
According to the ministry, the
containers were filled with contaminated, low-quality, non-recyclable plastic
waste and were en route to processing facilities that lacked the means to
recycle these materials in an environmentally sound manner – a violation of
Malaysia’s laws.
The
country has been grappling with foreign waste ever since China – which
previously imported over half the world’s waste – put in place its National
Sword policy in January 2018
.
Although
China still processes plastic, paper and scrap metal from other countries for
reuse in other products, under the new policy it has turned away shipments
containing unsorted or the wrong type of recyclables, low quality materials or
recyclables mixed with trash.
Its ban
resulted in Malaysia becoming one of the de facto dumping grounds for this sort
of waste. Nearly 500,000 tonnes of waste arrived in the country in the first
half of 2018 alone, some of which was smuggled in. The illegal waste trade also
spawned a number of fly-by-night recycling plants that were not properly
equipped to process these materials.
Malaysia is not the only country to
grapple with this issue – plastic waste imports into neighbouring Vietnam, the
Philippines and Thailand also leapt during this same period, leading to open
burning and dumping, and subsequent environmental damage, water contamination,
and respiratory illnesses.
But
those countries are pushing back. Manila has said it will
and
has recalled its ambassador to Canada after Ottawa refused to take back
,
including used adult diapers and plastic containers.
The
garbage will be returned to Canada on May 30, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro
Locsin Jnr said in a tweet.
Bangkok,
meanwhile, has banned the imports of more than 400 types of e-waste.
Mageswari
Sangaralingam, research officer at the Consumers Association of Penang and
Friends of the Earth Malaysia, said although the government’s action came late,
it was a “much-needed signal to the world that the Malaysian government is
serious in ensuring that we do not become a dumping ground”.
“Plastic waste traders are trying to
find a way around import restrictions imposed by the Malaysian government,” she
said. “As many countries have imposed bans or restrictions following China’s
ban, they are looking for loopholes or falsely declaring their consignments. We
will be deluged with foreign waste if nothing is done.”
Andrew Sebastian, chief executive of the
Eco-tourism & Conservation Society Malaysia, praised environment minister
Yeo for her leadership and firm stance.
“This is an important issue, and just
the tip of the iceberg. It will get worse before it gets better, as these
containers are only what have been discovered so far,” he said.
“It’s not right for these countries to
ship their rubbish here. Malaysia has its own plastic pollution and dumping
issues that we have not yet fully begun to deal with. We shouldn’t have to deal
with imported rubbish as well.”
.
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