Forum on "The impact of Plastics on the Sustainability of Environment: Should Plastics be Banned?

June 18, 2016

The Perak State government has announced that plastics especially Polystyrene will be banned from 1st June 2017. But this will be done in stages starting from 1st June 2016 where the use of plastics will be banned on certain day of the week in all our government agencies and local council.

Ipoh City Council was among the very first local council to announce the banning of plastics at all its canteen on every Friday beginning 1st June 2016.

At Ipoh City Watch (ICW), we are concerned about the impact of plastics on our environment and wellness. Thus we welcome the move by the Perak State government. Johore and Penang are the other states in Malaysia that have taken such measures.

Plastics generally contributes about 15% of the total garbage that goes to the landfill. To reduce this, ICW has started the recycling campaign in Ipoh to encourage Ipohites to separate their garbage and to practice recycling.

However, the Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (Perak Branch) committee members met with ICW and KOHIJAU as well representative of Perak SWCorp to provide their opinions about the banning of plastics.

Thus a forum has been mooted to give the public an opportunity to listen to the various views. 4 panel speakers have been invited to speak during the forum. They are;

a.       Prof. Madya Dr. Richard Ng, Pengerusi Ipoh City Watch

b.      Puan Hjh Fatimah Ahmad, Pengarah SWCorp Perak

c.       Datuk Lim Kok Boon, Presiden, Persatuan Pekilang Plastik Malaysia

d.      En. Zulqarnain Bin Mohamed, Pengarah Perancangan Bandar, MBI

Details of the forum are as follows:

Date: 21 June 2016
Time: 2pm to 5.30pm
Venue: Weil Hotel, Ipoh, Perak

The forum is open to public. Entrance is FOC. All environment lovers and stakeholders are invited to attend.