Press Statement
May 29, 2019 – Malaysia’s government returns imported plastic waste to global north
Packaging of everyday household products is found at a site adjacent to the recycling factory in Malaysia.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 29 2019 – In response to Malaysia’s decision to send imported plastic waste back to the countries that produced it, such as the UK and Canada, Greenpeace Malaysia Campaigner Heng Kiah Chun said:
“We recognise the Malaysian government’s positive action on tackling the plastic waste export crisis, which includes calling out and penalising those responsible for this waste being dumped in Southeast Asia. The Malaysian Environment Minister, Yeo Bee Yin, is leading the fight against the deluge of imported plastic waste in the country, which shows that this is an issue the Malaysian government is taking seriously. But this issue needs to be tackled at the source: multinationals need to reduce their production of single-use plastic so that countries like Malaysia do not end up at the receiving end in the first place.”
“Waste exporting countries should see this as a wake-up call, and take responsibility for their plastic waste. This can be an opportunity to fix our broken recycling system by incentivising and supporting a domestic market of sorting and recycling plastic waste, taking into account circularity. Most importantly, for an environmentally and socially fair recycling system to work, plastic manufacturers such as multinational companies need to reduce their plastic production by moving towards refill and reuse models and using durable materials that can be easily recycled at the end-of-life.”
Contact:
Yvonne Nathan
Digital and Media Campaigner, GPSEA Malaysia
Capucine Dayen
Global Comms Lead for a Plastic Free Future
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