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KUALA LUMPUR: Plastic waste, instead of decreasing as planned, is increasing due to Covid-19, which threatens to derail the country’s nascent environmental efforts.
From medical masks, plastic takeout containers to zip ties, experts reported seeing an increase in plastic waste.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, when the stay-at-home warnings took effect, people have constantly changed their lives online and have had their meals, groceries and products delivered.
The use of plastic packaging has increased unsurprisingly, especially in the food delivery category, as traders seek to keep costs low while ensuring food safety.
“Just looking at the change in behavior and practice during Covid (pandemic), you can already see that plastic will increase,” said Waste Management Systems Sdn Bhd CEO Datuk Mizan Yahya.
Plastic waste generally comprises a little over 13 percent of all municipal solid waste in Malaysia.
INSIDIOUS
Plastic, in addition to being extremely useful, versatile and durable, is insidious. Because of these virtues, the chances of humans renouncing plastic are slim or nil.
Since its inception in 1869, the material has been ubiquitous, appearing in everyday items from cosmetics to automobiles.
As of August this year, according to the Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association, plastic production has grown 0.7 percent, compared to five percent in the same period last year.
“Plastic has become part of our lives. From head to toe, ”said the president of the Malaysian Nature Society, Dr. Ahmad Ismail.
Plastic lasts forever in the environment; not demeaning after it has ceased to be useful. To put it in context, we live with plastic garbage made at the beginning of the last century.
An Arizona State University study of human organs published in August confirmed that microplastics are in our bodies, and studies have found plastic in animals as well.
When the Movement Control Order (MCO) was announced in March, many companies in the food and beverage industry realized that it meant more use of plastic and therefore more plastic waste. Some took steps, such as limiting the use of plastic products when serving their customers by using cardboard take-out containers instead of plastic and asking diners to forgo plastic cutlery.
But even then, little can be done to completely eliminate plastic from their delivery and take-out system, unless they want to put food safety at risk and reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission.
“We always focus on environmentally friendly packaging,” said Lai Wick Kee, co-founder of Epic Food Hall, adding that they packed their food in cardboard boxes to take out and deliver.
“(However) we still use plastic, but our plastic is degradable plastic. Last time we used paper bags, but for delivery it is quite challenging … on rainy days the rainwater soaked the paper bags, ”he said.
He added that since restaurants have a small profit margin, it is not unusual for vendors, especially smaller ones, to use plastic packaging instead of the more expensive and less safe, paper and cardboard packaging to deliver their products.
Another factor contributing to the increase in plastic waste is the shortage of alternative packaging.
“You are buying a lot more packaged food. As you consume food, more waste is generated outside the home. And, in general, most of the packaging is now plastic, ”Mizan said.
The waste management expert added that there was little incentive to reduce its use due to the low cost and convenience of plastic.
COMPLICATIONS
So people are using more plastic products because of the pandemic. But can’t people just recycle more to make up for it?
Not exactly, experts and industry players say.
On November 17, the Minister of Housing and Local Government, Zuraida Kamaruddin, said that the collection of waste for recycling increased to 2,188.95 tons from January to September of this year compared to 1,546.81 tons in the same period of the year. past. He also said collection of waste for recycling has reached more than 30 percent this year.
Solid Waste Management and Public Cleaning Corporation (SWCorp Malaysia) Federal Territories Director Mohd Zahir Shari said recycling increased because people spent more time at home and as such had more time to process and sort garbage for recycling.
However, the pandemic also created other complications in recycling and waste management.
“Recycling went up during MCO. But you have to continue like this, ”he said.
In the end, it was not enough to offset the increased use of plastics.
One complication is that many of the plastic products that have seen increased use are not recyclable. Masks, for example, are not, and neither are food containers that still have food residue on them.
Another is that the pandemic has shut down the informal contributor to recycling in Malaysia: scavengers who collect recyclables from homes, in garbage cans and on the streets.
Mizan said that many waste pickers have been unable to continue their activities during the pandemic for fear of contamination or exposure to the coronavirus, and said it has derailed Malaysia’s efforts to reduce plastic waste.
“Due to the contact, people are concerned that the recovery of post-consumer plastics could expose them to some element of danger, infection or Covid-19. So no one extracts plastics from general waste anymore, ”he said.
Efforts to offset the rise in plastic products by using plastic products with biodegradable labels also don’t necessarily work.
“Some people say it is biodegradable, but it is only biodegradable under specific conditions. For example, (there has to be) enough oxygen, enough sunlight … but the same plastic immersed in water will not biodegrade, ”Mizan said.
What is not recycled or cannot be recycled ends up in landfills or, in some places, incinerators.
The rest, either through garbage or illegal dumping, ends up in the oceans, according to Professor Dr. P. Agamuthu, a researcher on solid waste management at the Institute of Biological Sciences at Universiti Malaya.
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFORTS
Recognizing the risk of plastic pollution and microplastics, the government launched the Roadmap to Zero Single-Use Plastics in 2018, which aims to eradicate single-use plastics in 10 years.
Although it is scheduled for this year, the public awareness and education messages have not taken off. However, other aspects of the roadmap, such as a contamination charge for plastic bags and the delivery of plastic straws only on demand, are becoming policy in every state.
However, most experts believe that current efforts are too weak or too scant considering the amount of plastic that has caused COVID-19. They say the commitment required to make the changes necessary to reduce plastic and protect the environment has been a long time coming.
“If you want to achieve a real reduction in the use of plastic, the ban (of single-use plastics like plastic bags) has to be a total ban. We shouldn’t just talk about banning plastic or charging for plastic. We should give them a substitute so they have another option, ”said Agamuthu.
He said Malaysia needed to develop other options to reduce plastic, such as following China’s lead and using organic materials to replace plastic.
Mizan echoed Agamuthu’s sentiments, saying that a commitment to change was needed as each generation becomes more aware of environmental issues.
“(The younger generation) is more aware but it has not been translated into action. It is the economic factor that is driving their behavior, ”he said.
Ahmad agreed, saying that he has not noticed any difference in plastic consumption between the older generation and the younger generation.
As such, he said the government and stakeholders need to be more aggressive in changing people’s mindsets and attitudes about plastic.
“We have to educate people to change their way of life,” he said.
He admitted that changing the mindset is an uphill battle, citing the group’s experience in Pulau Ketam, Selangor.
The MNS has had a project to educate residents and clean up Pulau Ketam, which has a huge garbage problem caused by garbage dumps from the mainland and its residents.
“People don’t see (the need to protect the environment) until (something bad) happens in front of their eyes,” he said.Called
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