Let’s deal with our own plastic waste first

Bound bales of crushed plastic bottles and containers sit stacked ready to be recycled at a 4PET Recycling BV waste recycling center in Duiven, Netherlands, on Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018. Single-use plastic is increasingly coming under fire as debris flows into the world’s oceans, rivers and lakes, and major companies such as McDonald’s Corp. and Kraft Heinz Co. are trying to increase recycling and reduce waste. Photographer: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg

FEDERAL ministries and state government agencies have been active recently in encouraging the public to stop using single-use plastic materials.

National Geographic has said that Malaysia disgorges about 30,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually into the ocean. As a result, we have the dubious distinction of being one the biggest dumpers of plastic waste in Asia.