FROM the moment we wake up in the morning and brush our teeth to when we switch off the lights at the end of the day, we are surrounded with plastic.
It has become a lynchpin in our modern life, from single-use cutleries, straws and bottles to car and aircraft components.
As the material is inexpensive, light, durable and easy to shape, it leads to great demand for its products. For example, nearly a million beverage bottles are sold every minute around the world. However, the plastic is not as cheap as thought before. Its cost? The environment.
Malaysia was ranked eighth of the worst countries worldwide for plastic waste, according to a study titled Plastic Waste Inputs from Land into the Ocean published in Science magazine in February 2015.
The study found that Malaysia produced almost one million tonnes of mismanaged plastic waste in 2010, of which 0.14 to 0.37 million tonnes may have washed into the oceans.
The number contributed to more than five trillion pieces of plastic floating in our oceans. – April 25, 2019.
Datuk Keramat folk still manage to do some fishing from a Sg Klang polluted with household waste, plastics and other rubbish. Whether micro-plastics ingested by fish affect humans is unknown but scientists are looking for answers. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 25, 2019.Bottles and others plastic products covering the surface of Sg Klang in Klang, Selangor. About 11% of household waste is plastic and bottles make up 40% of it. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 25, 2019.A duck stuck with an almost fashionable plastic bag around the neck in Teluk Kumbar, Penang. Up to a trillion of plastic bags are discarded every year worldwide. Plastic can get trapped in an animal’s stomach causing ulceration, making them feel full and stopping them from eating real food. It is also likely that toxic chemicals on the surface of the plastics are transferred into the food chain. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 25, 2019.A dog roaming around imported waste for disposal in Jenjarom, Selangor. Malaysia has become the world’s top dump site for plastic waste diverted from China after the country stopped importing plastic waste in early 2018. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 25, 2019.Plastic is a popular kitchenware item in Chow Kit market, Kuala Lumpur. Consumers prefer to buy items made from plastic as they are cheaper compared with other materials. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 25, 2019.Traders at the Chow Kit wet market contributing to the problem of single-use plastics in Kuala Lumpur. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 25, 2019.The aftermath of a morning market rush in Kota Baru, Kelantan. The average time that a plastic bag is used is 12 minutes. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 25, 2019.A worker collecting rubbish disposed by visitors in the city centre. Data show only 9% of plastic bags are recycled and 12% incinerated. The rest end up in landfills and the natural environment. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 25, 2019.Plastic bottles, toys and polystyrene washed downstream by storm-water into Sg Klang during a downpour in the city centre. Polystyrene is one of the most commercialised plastics. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 25, 2019.Wildlife forced to deal with plastic bags as they hunt for food on a riverbank after rubbish is pushed downstream into Sg Klang by strong currents after a downpour. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 25, 2019.Packed, full and ready to go. A fully loaded lorry transporting imported plastic waste out of an unregulated waste facility in Jenjarom, Selangor, after it was shut down by government last year. Imported waste is often processed wrongly via dumping or burning. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 25, 2019.Almost 1,000 tonnes of plastic waste is collected monthly at the rubbish traps installed at the Sg Klang crossing which meets at Sg Kandis and Sg Pinang in Shah Alam. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 25, 2019.A speedboat cruising the cleaner parts of Sg Klang, separated by floating rubbish consisting of up to 70% plastic, which is trapped by a log boom installed across the river. Two log booms were installed across Sg Klang, one in Sg Kandis and another in Sg Pinang, in February 2016. Up to February this year, 45,067 tonnes of rubbish were prevented from flowing into the Straits of Malacca. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, April 25, 2019.
One of the biggest polluters are the e-commerce businesses. They wrap their products in layer and layers of plastic and bubble packs when they deliver to their customers and these plastic will land up in the landfills as they are not recyclable.
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