WE refer to the letter “Polystyrene, plastic a danger to us, environment” (NST, April 29). The issue here is waste management and not polystyrene or plastic bags.
Plastic bags, whether in terms of the total energy or fossil fuel used, or greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, have the lowest environmental impact compared with other packaging materials, as published in the “Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags”, a United Kingdom Environment Agency report in 2011. Due to its properties, such as light in weight, plastic packaging has among the smallest carbon footprint, requiring 90 per cent less energy to recycle and constituting 80 per cent less volume than other materials.
It is common to conveniently label plastics or other products/materials that do not degrade, especially in landfills, as environment-unfriendly, but it is misleading.
Degradation happens in the presence of three main elements — water, oxygen and light. In such optimum conditions, degradation results in the emission of carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas that causes global warming.
Studies have shown that even biodegradable products that are more environment-friendly do not degrade in landfills. This is due to the natural environment of the landfills, where waste is being dumped and buried layer by layer, causing landfills to be dry with lack of oxygen, and low light levels in between the layers of waste. In this condition, methane, a greenhouse gas 22 times more harmful than carbon dioxide, is emitted during the degradation process.
On the safety of polystyrene (PS), the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that PS packaging is safe for food. All food packaging materials, be they made of glass, aluminium, paper or plastics, contain substances that can “migrate” in tiny amounts to foods or beverages. However, FDA has determined that the level of migration is low and within safe limits. FDA has also approved PS for food contact. In addition, once PS products are manufactured, they are inert (chemically inactive).
The Health Ministry had issued a statement in 2008 that there was no reason to ban PS as there was no evidence to show that PS caused major health implications. PS food packaging is in compliance with the Malaysian Food Act 1983 (Act 281) and certified by Sirim as food contact packaging material.
On the letter writer’s remark that discarded PS and plastics are polluting the environment, the Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA) would like to highlight that it is not the product that is polluting the environment. It is the people who throw plastics and PS indiscriminately who are polluting the environment.
It is a waste management issue. Waste management is the responsibility of the public as well as the authorities. Action must be taken against litterbugs.
MPMA is a firm advocate of 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) and most plastics can be recycled. That is why plastics need to be separated from the waste stream so that they can be recycled into other useful products.
The introduction of the waste separation at source (SAS) initiative by the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation calls for the public to separate their recyclables from non-recyclables to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills. This will also achieve the national recycling rate target of 22 per cent by 2020. Thus, when handled responsibly, plastics, including PS, do not cause waste management issues, just like other recyclables.
MPMA has been organising “Don’t Be a Litterbug” campaigns with local authorities and partners since 2012 to increase awareness.
Rather than blame a product or material, more collaborative efforts are needed to address littering and implement an effective waste separation and recycling system.
This is the most appropriate long-term solution to our waste management problem. MPMA is ready to work with the local authorities and non-governmental organisations on anti-littering and recycling.
We reiterate that any container or packaging made of plastics, paper or any other material will not cause harm if they are used for the intended purpose. But such items will be an eyesore when there is indiscriminate littering.
DATUK LIM KOK BOON, president, Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association