‘OPERATORS SHIFTED TO OTHER STATES’
Govt action has forced them to shut plants in Selangor, says minister
THE authorities are hot on the heels of illegal plastic recycling factory operators who have taken the move to “decentralise” their activities following a major crackdown in Selangor.
In the past year, numerous massive coordinated enforcement operations mounted by the Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Ministry (MESTECC) and joined by the local authorities, as well as about six to seven agencies, including Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) and the Department of Environment (DoE), have forced operators to shut down their illegal businesses in Selangor and move elsewhere.
Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin said there was information that the illegal operators that imported plastic waste from countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand had shifted their operations to other states throughout the country.
It is learnt that there are now such activities in Negri Sembilan, Kedah and Johor.
“This problem is most serious in Selangor, which is home to 60 per cent of illegal factories.
“It is the most severe compared with other states. This is because of the ports that provide easy access.
“These operators are moving elsewhere as we have closed down the illegal premises in Selangor.
“Wherever there is a port, you will have the import of plastic waste. We are working with the Kedah, Negri Sembilan and Johor governments to curb the existence of these illegal factories.
“We will cooperate with just about anybody to totally eliminate this.
“So in states where we have identified the illegal factories, we are working with the state governments on coordinated enforcement operations.
“Our idea is to close down 100 illegal factories by the first quarter of this year.
“The numbers are on the rise and we are very near to hitting our target,” Yeo told the New Sunday Times.
It was recently reported that more than 60 illegal factories operated in Selangor, Negri Sembilan (10), Kedah (10), Perak (7), Johor (6), Penang (2) and Kelantan (1).
On Jan 17, Yeo had said 64 illegal plastic recycling factories in Selangor had been closed down, while 39 cases were brought to court.
Out of the 39, three cases saw individuals fined a total of RM229,000, with one accused sentenced to a day’s jail.
Yeo said the problem started when China closed its doors on the importation of HS Code 3915 plastic waste, which saw developed countries sending it to Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia, that led to the mushrooming of these illegal factories.
Yeo said the closing down of the illegal factories would not stop at 100, pledging that coordinated enforcement operations would continue even after the first quarter of this year.
She said once an illegal factory was identified and shut down, it was crucial that monitoring was carried out to ensure it remained closed.
“Not only that, we are trying to use the National Land Code to make it mandatory for land owners to remove and dispose of plastic waste from the properties in the right manner.
“Otherwise, we will confiscate their land. The landowners must get rid of the waste by giving it to a licensed landfill operator, a cement plant that can burn it or to whoever is willing to accept it.
“I am expecting that by midyear or the third quarter of the year, we will be able to sort out the influx of plastic waste that came into the country from January to July last year. This was before the freeze on approved permits to import used plastic.
“We will be able to clear everything.
“Until July last year, we imported 750,000 tonnes of rubbish and right now, we are suffering the aftermath.”
In Selangor, shutting down illegal factories involves the local authorites issuing notices to TNB and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) to disconnect the utilities.
For TNB, which comes under Yeo’s purview, she said the electricity supply would be disconnected after seven days of the notice to deter the illegal factories from operating further.
The next step is to issue a notice to landowners which gives them a certain period to clear the waste. Otherwise, the land will be seized.
MESTECC, Yeo said, was working with the Selangor government to seize land from owners who did not comply with the directive.
She said this would start in Selangor before the strategy was used in other states nationwide.
Aside from working with state governments, Yeo said there would be joint ministerial cooperation with the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) to tackle the import of plastic waste.
“At the moment, we are coming out with a new policy on plastic scraps and we are finalising it together with KPKT. We will be strict and we are not going to accept any rubbish at all.”
She said after the illegal factories were shut down and the plastic waste cleared, MESTECC would beef up enforcement to ensure there were no more such activities and focus on strengthening cases that could be brought to court.
Engagements with small- and medium-sized enterprises, as well as schools, would be carried out to create awareness of environmental sustainability.
Enforcement is an issue, obviously. Otherwise, how do we explain their erstwhile illegal operations.
ON Oct 25, this newspaper carried a Reuters story that dubbed Malaysia a dumping ground of choice for global plastic waste. Millions of Malaysian hearts must have ached. If this was not enough, the waste was dumped in Pulau Indah, which means “beautiful island”. The irony was not lost on us. Just as we were trying to nurse our way out of this foul pang, we are hit with the plastic scourge again. This time, plastic waste at illegal recycling factories in Jenjarom. We frontpaged the picture of the plastic waste yesterday, because we know it depicts the scale of the scourge even a thousands words cannot express. And because, too, the scourge makes the words strain, crack and break in a Eliotesque way. Sadly, the plastic waste problem is not limited to Selangor. Shut down the illegal factories in one state, they will reappear elsewhere. Almost overnight.
Enforcement is an issue, obviously. Otherwise, how do we explain their erstwhile illegal operations. We can’t do without enforcement, it seems. From illegal parking to corruption, we need frequent policing. Be that as it may, there is a larger, more dangerous problem that resides elsewhere. It is in the kind of business we promote. Why import the world’s rubbish to be recycled here? Why turn the country into a landfill for the rest of the world? Do we not have enough haze to pollute the air? Plastic processing comes with pollution risks, however well you do it. Oh no, do not come to us with your SOPs. We have heard that before. What’s more, they do not quite address the toxic fumes released by burning plastic waste that cannot be recycled. Not addressed, too, is the plastic waste that gets dumped in landfills, poisoning the soil and water sources.
We recognise there are two views. One is business-centric. Milton Friedman-like (who infamously said the only social responsibility of a business is to make profit), they are all for the money. Show me the money and we will approve it, they seem to say. Such a view, if pursued without due care, will endanger the wellbeing of the people, and the nation. For what is a nation without its people? Plus, all the money made out of such businesses will be more than wiped out by the health bill that the national coffers may have to foot. Such a view should not be supported.
The other, quite rightly we must say, places people before profit. Such a view is against turning Malaysia into a trash can for developed nations. And a humongous one at that. Picture this. Just in seven months of last year, Malaysia imported 754,707 tonnes of plastic waste. That is the weight of a thousand double-decked skybridge that joins the sky lobbies of Petronas Twin Towers. Or the weight of 82 Eiffel towers. Admittedly, this is a discordant comparison — juxtaposing the beauty and the beast — but the aim is to show the heavy load on the nation’s shoulders. In the language of risk-reward analysis, the RM3.2 billion that we purportedly earn a year from plastic waste recycling pales into insignificance when we count the cost to the people and environment. Time to stop the rubbish.