‘Culprits in smuggling of waste include local firms’

Stern action must not only be taken against foreign countries for smuggling illegal plastic waste into the country, but also against local parties for importing it.

Environmental Protection Society Malaysia vice-president Randolph Jeremiah said while the decision to punish foreign countries was commendable, it was not enough as the culprits involved local companies too.

“I believe it is a good start to better regulate unwanted plastic waste from entering Malaysia at the international level, making many developed countries exporting unwanted plastics accountable, similar to the initial intentions of the Basel Convention on Hazardous Waste.

“However, action must be taken against local parties responsible for importing such waste because as long as there are willing buyers, there will be willing sellers.”

Jeremiah said strict monitoring by the Department of Environment at all points of entry into the country would help address the problem.

This effort, he said, must be supported by the port authorities and the Customs Department.

The Basel Convention deals with the control of transboundary movements of hazardous waste and disposal, with the aim to prevent such waste from being transferred to less developed countries.

Malaysia has been a signatory to the Basel Convention since 1993.

The government has requested that countries involved pay to clean up their waste here or take it back after the recent discovery of 24 containers of plastic waste from Spain at Port Klang, Selangor recently.