More aggressive approach to plastic waste needed

Plastic everywhere: Rubbish-filled Gazumbo Island next to Penang Bridge before a clean-up by volunteers in February. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star

I REFER to the report, “Big haul in Sabah beach clean-up” (The Star, May 5; online at bit.ly/star_ plasticwaste).

It is indeed shocking that 764kg of plastic waste was collected over the weekend at Likas Bay in Sabah.

This indicates that there is an urgent need for a more aggressive approach to reducing plastic waste, and it is commendable that an NGO called Blu Hope is taking a number of effective steps in Sabah.

Its founder, Simon Christopher, suggested giving monetary value to the recycling of plastic waste. This is a very good strategy and should be implemented all over Malaysia.

I would say that if 10 sen, for example, is given for each plastic bag or plastic bottle collected and sent to recycling centres, we would certainly clear this country of plastic trash in no time!

Shopping outlets should completely stop giving out plastic bags to shoppers or using them in their own packaging. They should be made to use only paper bags and biodegradable packaging as is done is most developed nations.

The move in this direction has so far been half-hearted.

What is most urgently needed is for the government to be more committed to reducing plastic usage and waste.

But all we hear are complaints and there is no concrete action on the part of the authorities concerned.

One wonders if the plastic industry is strongly lobbying against government action.

The report also said that Malaysian celebrity Maya Karin narrates a three-part educational TV series with Sir David Attenborough, Rethinking Plastics, in Britain. Why have we not heard of this here in Malaysia?

As reported, the “KK-Plastic Neutral Love Clean KK (Kota Kinabalu) clean-up” is an initiative to make Sabah plastic-neutral in five years. Can’t we have such an initiative all over Malaysia?

DR PETER J. PEREIRA

Petaling Jaya