NZ exports waste woes to Malaysia
The plastic in Kiwis’ recycling bins is being dumped as a mountain of waste in Malaysia or being burnt in secret.
That was the message delivered at a talk in Wellington yesterday titled: Recycling is a myth.
Pua Lay Peng, visiting from Malaysia, said her village had become a dumping ground for countries like New Zealand, and it was poisoning her home. ‘‘It’s creating a second pollution problem; not in your house, but in my house.’’
According to export data, 4000 tonnes of plastic was shipped from this country to Malaysia during the first half of 2018 after China stopped accepting the world’s recycling. It is being burned in open-air, dumped close to water or left to rot, Lay Peng said.
Lay Peng, who works as a community activist for the Kuala Langat Environmental group, said she would leave home in the middle of the night to find plastic being burned in secret open fires in her village of Jenjarom.
People in developed countries felt like recycling was a solution, but that myth was encouraging more and more waste, she said.
Lay Peng and the Kuala Langat Environmental group approached Greenpeace with their concerns.
Greenpeace’s report, The Recycling Myth, says Malaysia is the new dumping site for plastic recycling from more than 19 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, it says. At the dumping sites, Greenpeace found plastic items clearly marked as having been purchased in New Zealand.
Greenpeace Malaysia public engagement campaigner Heng Kiah Chun said Malaysia was overwhelmed by the waste. Globally, only nine per cent of plastic waste was recycled. Twelve per cent was burnt.The remaining 79 per cent was in landfill or the natural environment, he said.