Bylaws also being drafted by local authorities to get people to recycle - The Star

10 March 2016

(From left) MBPP Urban Services Department director Mubarak Junus, Rainbow Paradise Beach Resort general manager Calvin Koay, Mohd Rashid, Oon and other officials placing used plastic bottles at the hotel’s designated recycle area.

MORE than 100 agents in Penang are expected to apply for recyclable items collection licences once the Segregation at Source Bylaw and Licensing of Recyclers Bylaw are gazetted on June 1.

The state’s Solid Waste Management Unit chief Oon Lai Kuan said the drafts of the bylaws have been submitted to the state legal adviser Datuk Aliza Sulaiman.

“At the moment, there is no law to compel people to recycle, therefore the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) want to implement both the bylaws.

“The first one is to compelpeople to recycle and second one for recycling agents to have the licences. This way, both councils can track the amount of recycling collections and rate of recycling efforts carried out.

“We will give people some time to get used to the bylaws, but once gazetted, action will be taken against those who fail to abide by them,” he said at the launch of the pilot project for waste segregation at source for the hotel category at the Rainbow Paradise Beach Resort in Tanjung Bungah recently.

Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon said that so far, three pilot projects for waste segregation at source had been implemented.

“The state government launched this fourth pilot project for the hotel category and hopes to make waste segregation a routine.

“Other pilot projects will alsobe implemented in other parts of Penang.

“We will cover all the sevencategories of villages, high-rise buildings, housing project for the poor, housing estates, factories, shopping malls and food outlets/hotels by March.

“The pilot project will be closely monitored and any weaknesses identified will be corrected,” he said.

Mohd Rashid also said the MBPP had allocated RM95.64mil for waste management and cleaning of public areas.

During the launching ceremony, the hotel’s general liaison officer Zainal Basiron said that the hotel collected about 2,000kg of recyclable items each month, which are sold for more than RM800.