Review of Plastic Ban in Perak and Emulate Japanese Culture during SUKMA and all government functions

6 July 2018 by Dr. Richard Ng

The new Pakatan Harapan government has been urged to review on the previous BN government’s policy of banning plastics as announced in April 2016 which is supposed to be enforced effective 1 June 2017.

The U-Turn was announced by the then Perak MB, Dr. Zambry Abd Kadir about a month before the enforcement of the policy giving excuses that a thorough study was required before enforcing the ban. According to him, we cannot tackle the problems of plastic and polystyrene usage without providing the correct alternative, as well as creating an environment that leads towards the ban.

In April 2016, he announced that the total ban on plastic bags and polystyrene containers would be enforced in stages, starting with state government buildings, cafeterias, and functions to start using biodegradable containers every Friday from June last year. In the second stage, the ban was extended from weekly to daily. It was then extended to cover all municipal councils in the state. The final stage was the ban on polystyrene and plastic bags throughout the state.

If the government is serious about reducing carbon footprint and addressing climate change as one of the goals under the United Nation on Sustainable Development Goals, then the review is imminent. There are two ways to do it: through enforcement and legislation and education.

In Perak with a population of 2.8 million now, a total of 200,000 tonnes of garbage is generated each year and of this total about 30% or 65,000 tonnes made up various plastics and polystyrene. Also there are over 2,000 illegal dumpsites now. As plastics takes years to decompose, the landfills and illegal dumpsites will keep piling up.

We need not to wait for further studies as states such as Penang, Selangor, Melaka and Johor have implemented successfully. The people in these states have adapted to it and are ever willing to cooperate. However, it must start from the government, the corporate sectors, the traders and plastic manufacturers.

We still noticed during Hari Raya Open House hosted by government agencies continued to use disposable polystyrene plastics, plastic spoons and forks as well as plastic straws. The government must stop using single use plastic even though it is a cheaper option to help reduce plastic pollution which is choking our ocean.

Traders must be forced to use plastic containers which can be recycled instead of polystyrene box even though it cost more and not a good alternative.

The better option is to educate the public to bring their own tiffin carrier and mugs when purchasing foods and drinks.

The government must also engage environment NGOs such as KOHIJAU and Ipoh City Watch which have been actively involved in educating the public especially students to practice 3R and use recyclable shopping bags. The community such as senior citizens and single mothers can be taught on upcycling skills to salvage plastics and turn it into bags and other products which can be reuse as decorations, flower pots, stationery holders or even handicrafts.

The enforcement on the banning of plastics can be carried out by business licensing authority especially the local councils. Traders who ignore this ruling will have their business license revoked.

During the recent FIFA world cup in Russia involving Japan, the Japanese fans, players and officers set good examples to the world by picking up thrash left in the stadium and even cleaned up their rooms before they leave. This a habit the Japanese government has cultivated in young Japanese students.

Perak will soon host the 19^th SUKMA Games from 14 to 22 September 2018. This is the best opportunity for Perakians to showcase our good habit by emulating the Japanese to clean up the venue after every event held.

The Perak Chairman for Youth and Sports should look into engaging NGOs and Volunteers to help. Thousands of people will be in Perak during this game and what better way to show that we are not just only a good host but a responsible host. Already Perak is famed for its good food. We must not just display the number medals we receive but also to showcase that we are one of the cleanest if not the cleanest state in Malaysia.

So start to form our volunteer brigade and NGOs, empower them and make our state proud and great again.