Recycle your own waste, SAM tells Uncle Sam
Sahabat Alam Malaysia said records show 9,800 tonnes of ‘clean’ plastic waste were exported from the US to Malaysia in January alone and hoped the authorities had inspected all these containers.
PETALING JAYA: An environmental group today told the US not to send its waste to developing countries and to process it on its own instead, after a consignment from the superpower arrived in Malaysia recently.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) president Meenakshi Raman said it was unjust for a wealthy country to offload its trash on countries that are under-resourced.
“A rich country like the US should have the capacity to manage its own waste. Shifting the responsibility of dealing with plastic waste to developing and under-resourced countries is an injustice.
“The US should not export waste. It should take responsibility for its own waste and recycle domestically,” she said in a statement.
Meenakshi said plastic recycling should not be used as an excuse to create more plastic products, especially single-use plastics.
“We need to move towards zero waste. While the entire world is dealing with the bane of plastic waste, the corporations and businesses that create such issues need to quickly address it,” she said.
Recently, it was reported that Malaysia allowed in a container of plastic waste from the US after finding that it held only clean, recyclable material, and found this did not violate a new United Nations treaty banning trade in contaminated plastics.
Malaysia has become the leading destination for the world’s plastic trash after China banned imports in 2018. Over the past few years, Malaysia has returned thousands of tonnes of plastic scrap to their countries of origin.
Meenakshi said the environment and water ministry should be lauded for diligently inspecting this suspected shipment of plastic waste from the US.
However, she said based on open data, 9,800 tonnes of plastic waste under the HS3915 code had been exported from the US to Malaysia in January alone.
“We hope that the authorities had checked each container that came through our ports, not only from the US but other countries too as not all of this plastic would have been as clean or homogeneous.”
The US, which produces more plastic waste per capita than any other country, is the only major nation not to have ratified the Basel Convention and is not bound by its rules.
Under the treaty, Malaysia cannot accept prohibited plastic waste from the US. Malaysia has signed the convention which came to force on Jan 1.
Under the convention, signatories can only trade in plastic waste if it is clean, sorted and easy to recycle.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) president Meenakshi Raman said it was unjust for a wealthy country to offload its trash on countries that are under-resourced.
“A rich country like the US should have the capacity to manage its own waste. Shifting the responsibility of dealing with plastic waste to developing and under-resourced countries is an injustice.
“The US should not export waste. It should take responsibility for its own waste and recycle domestically,” she said in a statement.
Meenakshi said plastic recycling should not be used as an excuse to create more plastic products, especially single-use plastics.
“We need to move towards zero waste. While the entire world is dealing with the bane of plastic waste, the corporations and businesses that create such issues need to quickly address it,” she said.
Recently, it was reported that Malaysia allowed in a container of plastic waste from the US after finding that it held only clean, recyclable material, and found this did not violate a new United Nations treaty banning trade in contaminated plastics.
Malaysia has become the leading destination for the world’s plastic trash after China banned imports in 2018. Over the past few years, Malaysia has returned thousands of tonnes of plastic scrap to their countries of origin.
Meenakshi said the environment and water ministry should be lauded for diligently inspecting this suspected shipment of plastic waste from the US.
However, she said based on open data, 9,800 tonnes of plastic waste under the HS3915 code had been exported from the US to Malaysia in January alone.
“We hope that the authorities had checked each container that came through our ports, not only from the US but other countries too as not all of this plastic would have been as clean or homogeneous.”
The US, which produces more plastic waste per capita than any other country, is the only major nation not to have ratified the Basel Convention and is not bound by its rules.
Under the treaty, Malaysia cannot accept prohibited plastic waste from the US. Malaysia has signed the convention which came to force on Jan 1.
Under the convention, signatories can only trade in plastic waste if it is clean, sorted and easy to recycle.
if got hs mean not dumping right? the correct phrase shd be msia import plastic waste from usa.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Buying Stops the Import will Stop too.
ReplyDeleteSAM is tackling the problem from the wrong end. Don't ask 500 yo Bullyland to stop exporting plastic. They only send because someone here wants to buy it. Can make money. Instead ban the recycling of plastics in Malaysia, like what 5000 yo Bullyland has done. Otherwise Bullyland become Wasteland...ha ha ha....
Oso SAM must continue to bang table on Lynas and their illegal radioactive dumpsite. Lynas still sending radioactive material from Down Under. And Liow Tiong Lai who lost in Bentong seat to Wong Tack over Lynas issue as quiet as Wee KHAT Siong. No more an issue?
Cancel Lynas' lesen then the issue will go away. We can afford to pay Little Red Dot hundreds of millions compensation for HSR, with nothing to show. Why not pay Lynas compensation to get out and keep our health.
The USA signed the Basel convention in 1990.
ReplyDeleteEither lousy or mala fide journalist at work here.
Malaysia signed the convention on January 1, 2021, more than 30 years too late.
"The USA signed the Basel convention in 1990.
ReplyDeleteEither lousy or mala fide journalist at work here"
Wakakakakakaka…
"The US, which produces more plastic waste per capita than any other country, is the only major nation not to have ratified the Basel Convention and is not bound by its rules."
??!!
Lousy or c&p mala fide journalism!
Mfer, up till now, 2021, USofA is still exporting unclean, unsorted and hard to recycle plastics - consumer or industrial - to many 3rd world countries like Bangladesh, Indonesia & many more to Africa where nobody cares!
bangladesh indonesia n msia not in africa, usa no geopolitical interest as well?
DeleteStill haven't wake up from yr katak fart induced hallucinations?
DeleteTalking about plastic wastes here!
What geopolitics r u farting about?
Oooo… know-nothing 犬养 mfer parading its cesspool content!