PORT KLANG: Malaysia is putting a stop to the practice of unscrupulous dumping of foreign garbage into our soil.
For a start, a total of 60 containers filled with 3,000 metric tonnes of garbage will be shipped off to its countries of origin in the near future.
The first phase of the massive operation began by getting rid of 10 containers, filled to the brim with 450 metric tonnes of contaminated plastic waste. They originated from the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, China, Saudi Arabia and even Bangladesh.
The containers have been stuck at Westports Malaysia in Pulau Indah here since April last year.
In addition, five containers have been sent back to Spain on April 29, while 50 containers that have been brought in illegally are currently being inspected.
The Environmental Quality Act 1974 will be enforced against the importers, made up of local players, beginning today where a notice will be served against them with instruction to start the process of shipping the containers back to the counties of origin (exporters).
The importers (from the receiving country) will then have 14 days to complete the necessary procedures of sending back the contaminated plastic waste at their expense, where they have to bear the shipping and storage costs, to send back the containers to the countries of origin.
If the importers fail to do so, they risk legal action being taken against them.
Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin had today inspected the containers to be shipped off at Westports Malaysia.
Having seen first hand the amount of contaminated, non-homogeneous, low quality and non-recyclable plastic waste which was bound for processing facilities that do not have the technology to recycle them in an environmentally-sound manner, Yeo was visibly angry.
“I am very angry. I want to send this back. This (bread bag) plastic is from Canada. It is consumed in Canada and people diligently separate their waste to help the environment but it ended up here instead,” Yeo said.
She said the containers were illegally brought into Malaysia under false declaration and other offences, which clearly violated the environmental law.
Yeo also discovered milk bottles from Australia that were infested with dead maggots, electronic waste, electrical cables, wires, as well as a Carrefour supermarket plastic bag scrap.
One container from Bangladesh contained jumbo bags of CDs while another from China was found to have been filled with illegal waste but wrapped around clean packaging to mislead the authorities.
Yeo said the ministry, through the Department of Environment, had inspected 123 containers from countries such as the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Singapore, Norway and France. The process is on-going.
At a press conference later, Yeo said their one-month investigations had also discovered that a recycling company in the United Kingdom had been exporting contaminated plastic waste to Malaysia for the past two years.
“In the span of two years, the company has exported 1,000 containers containing more than 50,000 metric tonnes of plastic waste. Citizens of the United Kingdom believed it is for recycling purposes but it is dumped in our country instead.
“This is serious as Malaysians are suffering from the consequences of pollution of air as well as rivers. It is unfair and uncivilised.
“Malaysians have the right to clean air, clean water and sustainable resources. We urge the developed countries to review their management of plastic waste and stop shipping the garbage out to developing countries.
Yeo cautioned that Malaysia would not hesitate to return the waste without mercy.
“We will fight back and not be bullied by developed countries. We view this seriously as it concerns our sovereignty and sustainability,” she said.
She said the names of the recycling companies would be compiled to be sent to the respective governments, with calls made to take action and conduct invest
igation.
Yeo added that other ports in Malaysia would also be checked for containers with contaminated plastic waste.
She said unscrupulous Malaysians who had a hand in bringing in the foreign garbage were traitors to the country.
“Malaysians who import foreign garbage into Malaysia are traitors to the country’s sustainability. They must be stopped and brought to justice.
“The Malaysian government and our foreign counterparts have the responsibility to ensure that the transboundary garbage does not happen again,” she said.