MPMA open for tie-ups towards circular economy

Vice-president C.C. Cheah said MPMA would continue to support the stakeholders of the plastics industry towards achieving CE and implementing extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme in Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA) is open for collaborations and partnerships with like-minded organisations and companies to drive the Malaysian plastics industry towards a circular economy (CE).

Vice-president C.C. Cheah said MPMA would continue to support the stakeholders of the plastics industry towards achieving CE and implementing extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme in Malaysia.

“Plastics is a valuable material and only through a circular system can the value of plastics be preserved and maintained in the supply chain with minimal impact on the environment.

“Plastics should not end up in landfills, but they should be separated as recyclables,” he said during the Malaysia Accelerating Circular Economy: EPR Webinar Series – Volume 1, yesterday.

Cheah said countries worldwide have been setting targets on the circularity of products, driving circular product design and innovation, increasing demand for recycled material and technology development in recycling.

“As such, the Malaysian plastics industry is geared towards the same direction,” he added.

Meanwhile, he said the previously launched Malaysia Plastic Sustainability Roadmap 2021-2030, an effort by the government to address plastic waste pollution, would drive nationwide implementation of EPR for plastic packaging for a start.

“The plastics industry supports this as an EPR scheme which will increase plastics recovery and recycling, thus driving the industry towards CE,” he said.

Last Friday, Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, who launched the Malaysia Plastics Sustainability Roadmap 2021-2030, said the framework, to be implemented in three phases, would serve as a compass for stakeholders in preserving plastics based on the circular economy concept throughout the value chain.

The framework is one of the actions under Malaysia’s Roadmap Towards Zero Single-Use Plastics, which was approved by the Cabinet in 2018.

Tuan Ibrahim said the EPR scheme was an important element in the framework that would change the local plastic waste management ecosystem.

Under the EPR scheme, manufacturers are not only responsible for treating and disposing of plastic waste that has been marketed by their respective brands, but they also have to take into account the design components as well as the use of recycled resins. — Bernama