{"id":63383,"date":"2025-11-16T00:03:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T16:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/?p=63383"},"modified":"2025-11-17T11:23:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T03:23:42","slug":"digging-deep-into-the-latest-developments-on-lynas-and-the-state-of-the-rare-earth-industry-in-malaysia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/press\/63383\/digging-deep-into-the-latest-developments-on-lynas-and-the-state-of-the-rare-earth-industry-in-malaysia\/","title":{"rendered":"Digging deep into the latest developments on Lynas and the state of the rare earth industry in Malaysia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
Versi Bahasa Malaysia<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Kuala Lumpur, 15 November 2025 \u2014<\/strong> Greenpeace Malaysia and Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) today held a joint press conference and media briefing to highlight the latest developments surrounding Lynas\u2019 operations and the rare earth industry in Malaysia. The groups also expressed deep concern over the Malaysian government\u2019s continued leniency toward Lynas and questioned the scientific and regulatory basis for the possible renewal of its Full Operating Stage Licence (FOSL) in March 2026.

Both organisations voiced concern that Malaysia risks becoming a pollution hub for rare earth processing, as industry and government continue to promote the sector without fully addressing the long-term impacts of radioactive waste, environmental degradation, and public accountability. The Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in Gebeng, Kuantan, is one of the world\u2019s largest rare earth processing facilities outside China. Its \u201cCracking and Leaching\u201d process generates a primary waste known as Water Leach Purification (WLP) residue \u2014 a radioactive by-product containing thorium with a half-life of 14 billion years<\/strong>.

The government\u2019s justification for allowing Lynas to continue operating until 2026 remains unfounded. \u201cClaims that Lynas can separate thorium from its waste and make it non-radioactive are scientifically and technically unsound. There is no published evidence or transparent data to support these assertions. Even Nuklear Malaysia has confirmed that no such thorium extraction project ever materialised, despite allocated grants\u201d, said SMSL Chairperson Tan Bun Teet.

The groups emphasised that isolating thorium from the WLP, which contains an average of 1,758 parts per million thorium, is both economically and technically impractical<\/strong>. Attempts to remove thorium from the lanthanide concentrate feedstock would disrupt rare earth extraction itself \u2014 making the government\u2019s current justification for renewal misleading and unsupported by credible science.

Both organisations stated that the current crisis reflects years of weak regulation, shifting policies, and contradictory narratives. Lynas\u2019s 2012 licence required the company to remove its waste from Malaysia if necessary, yet that commitment was steadily eroded through multiple renewals and policy reversals. In 2014, Lynas proposed reusing its radioactive waste as industrial by-products, but the government rejected the plan in 2018 over safety concerns. A 2019 directive then required the company to relocate its waste-producing Cracking and Leaching operations by 2023, only for the decision to be abruptly overturned in October 2023, extending its licence until 2026.

During this period, Lynas repeatedly shifted its narrative; from claiming its waste could be safely recycled to later asserting it was harmless enough for municipal disposal \u2014 both dismissed by experts and never validated by independent science. \u201cDespite years of public resistance and clear policy conditions, Lynas continues to operate with limited accountability and no proven waste solution. Malaysia deserves a clean, safe, and just pathway for its economy and not one built on radioactive waste and broken promises,\u201d said Greenpeace Malaysia Campaign Lead Heng Kiah Chun.

Together, Greenpeace Malaysia and SMSL urge the government to reject Lynas\u2019s licence renewal in 2026 and instead enforce the original commitment for Lynas to relocate its Cracking and Leaching operations to Western Australia. They also call for a full, transparent, and independent scientific review of the environmental and health impacts arising from Lynas\u2019s waste management, and for real-time monitoring data to be made publicly accessible. The organisations reiterated their long-standing demand that Lynas be held accountable for its 2012 undertaking to remove its radioactive waste from Malaysia and return it to its origin site at Mt Weld in Western Australia, where it can be securely contained under proper geological conditions.

ENDS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\n
Versi Bahasa Malaysia<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greenpeace Malaysia and Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) expressed deep concern over the Malaysian government\u2019s continued leniency toward Lynas and questioned the scientific and regulatory basis for the possible renewal of its Full Operating Stage Licence (FOSL) in March 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":63384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"Political & Business","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[131,132],"tags":[84,108],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-63383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-and-pollution","category-community-and-activism","tag-environmental-justice","tag-human-rights","p4-page-type-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63383"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63397,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63383\/revisions\/63397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63383"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/malaysia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=63383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}