Lead Feature

Are plastics the public’s worst enemy?

As we start the year on a fresh footing, stories about plastic bag bans and tough laws to be enacted are making their rounds in Asia. In India, Jigish Doshi, Chairman of the Plexpo India 2010 exhibition, has been quoted as saying that any processor in the country found to be producing plastic bags less than 20 microns should be severely punished with a jail sentence!

Meanwhile in the Malaysian state of Penang, government authorities have announced their intention to take stern action against shops caught selling plastic bags during the three days (from the initial one day) in the week that the state enforces its “No Plastic Day” campaign, which started last year. Action includes fines or licenses being taken away. The island state of Penang, which is pulling out all the stops to maintain its “pearl in the orient” appeal, has had a spate of bad publicity on its polluted beaches that have been, unfortunately for the plastics industry, found to be littered with plastic bags and bottles, amongst other rubbish!

PRA caught up with the Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers’ Association (MPMA)’s Chairman, Lim Kok Boon, to find out his views on the proposed actions by the Penang state government and other environmentally friendly issues that are bearing down on the industry.

PRA: Penang has become the first state in the country to stop giving out free plastic bags. What is MPMA‘s stand on this issue?

Lim:  Needless to say, MPMA is disappointed with the direction that the Penang state government has taken on this issue.

The Malaysian Plastics Forum (MPF) was invited to a public dialogue by the Penang state government in April 2009 to present a paper entitled “Waste Management and Recycling of Plastics in Malaysia”. This highlighted the myths and misconceptions of plastic bags as well as the industry’s proposals to the Penang state government to address the waste management issues in Penang based on the concept of 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle).

At the dialogue also, the organisers were talking of setting up a work group consisting of all stakeholders to look into ways to tackle the waste management issues in Penang but sadly this did not take place. The Penang state government decided to impose the ban even before all the stakeholders could come together for the first time to discuss the issues at hand.

MPMA steadfastly stands by the principle of 3Rs, which would assist in resolving key waste management issues as the 3Rs serves as a sound platform to those genuinely interested in helping to change the state of our environment.

Further, the 3Rs model of collaboration would have been aimed at addressing waste management issues through a combination of public education and enforcement of the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007 by engaging all stakeholders, ie. bag manufacturers, retailers/supermarkets, consumers, recyclers, waste concession operators and legislators to engage in and play a role in assisting to address the solid waste management issues in Penang. Subsequent to the Penang government’s decision to stop giving out free plastic bags every Monday beginning from the first Monday of July 2009, MPF had submitted a memorandum addressed to Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang, for his reconsideration of the decision. In the memorandum, MPF highlighted specific case examples in Ireland and the US city of San Francisco where a ban and levy have been imposed and the consequences have not resulted in the desired results from the economic and environmental points of view as a whole.

The memorandum provided proof that in terms of the total energy used, fossil fuel used, waste disposal volume/weight or greenhouse gas emissions, plastic bags have the lowest environmental impact compared with any other packaging material. Most people fail to understand that plastics, just like other materials, have an adverse impact on the environment if not properly managed. Our proposal to set up a work group based on the 3Rs model would effectively address all the issues raised with stakeholders working together towards a better environment.

A ban or levy will, therefore, only create a situation where there would invariably be an increase in the use of plastic rubbish bin liners, which consumers would now have to pay for.

Regardless, MPF would continue to engage with the various stakeholders in Penang by initiating outreach programmes based on the 3Rs model, including calling for stern actions against littering and putting in place mechanisms for effective collection and recycling of all recyclables.

PRA: Sustainability is the “new” buzzword in the industry and even MPMA had it as its theme at last year’s AGM. How is MPMA promoting sustainability to its members and what steps are to be taken by members to embrace sustainability in their corporate programmes?

Lim:  MPMA’s 2009 Annual Report “Success Through Sustainability” theme reflected two key points: that MPMA wishes for all its members to be successful through generating more businesses and in the course of these businesses, MPMA encourages its members to demonstrate their corporate social responsibilities. In this context, MPMA had promoted and would continue to promote to its members matters related to Environment, Safety and Health on plastics to ensure the sustainability of its members as well as that of the industry.

More importantly, in moving forward, members are constantly encouraged to incorporate sustainable practices in their business endeavours to meet the increasingly competitive global environment. Sustainable development is often referred to meeting the needs of present generations without jeopardising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs – in other words, a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come.

With regards to the steps taken by MPMA to encourage its members to embrace sustainable development, MPMA has undertaken the following:

a) MPMA has organised a compilation of information and facts related to the safety and health of plastics and the impact of plastics on the environment. These compilation of factual evidence based on scientific facts have been distributed to members where there was a nationwide roadshow held in 2008.

MPMA continuously encourages its members to be proactive spokespersons – as ambassadors of the industry – on plastics safety and plastics impact on the environment matters, so as to help change the misconception of plastics.

This strategy is to help members understand the impact that plastics has on the environment, and to help prepare them for the next step, which is to move towards sustainable development activities.

b) Further to the “Green Partnership Programme” between the governments of Malaysia and Japan and assisted by the Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS), which is a non-profit association, MPMA had promoted a training programme on Environmental Protection for Malaysia with an emphasis on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This programme was actively participated by key MPMA members in Yokohama, Japan, in December 2008.

c) Following the programme with AOTS, MPMA organised a Seminar on LCA for the petrochemical and plastics industry. The seminar was in collaboration with the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM) and the objectives of the seminar were to provide an overview of the techniques and applications of LCA and also focus on global trends of LCA from the legislative and industry. The highlights of the Seminar were the case example presentations by members on the Life Cycle Inventory Assessment (LCIA) of petrochemical and plastics manufacturing processes at the seminar. 

MPMA takes pride that this seminar managed to provide the platform needed for members to obtain knowledge on the environmental impact of products, processes and activities relating to plastics as well as the methodology to implement LCA.

PRA: At the M-Plas show, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last year, some local companies were promoting biodegradable materials. What is MPMA’s stand on this?

Lim: MPMA/MPF’s stand has always been industry-friendly and the issue of biodegradable plastics is no exception. MPMA’s plastics manufacturers have no qualms of using existing extrusion machines on normal fossil fuel-based polymers and also on “biodegradable” polymers.  MPMA is therefore supportive of the trends in the development of biodegradable polymers. 

However, MPMA proposes that any decisions adopted must be based on sound scientific criteria and on an integrated Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach.

To most people, biodegradable materials may sound environmentally-friendly but in reality biodegradability in modern landfill is very much doubtful. Degradation of biodegradable material requires specific temperature, moisture condition and sunlight, which do not exist in our modern landfill sites. This essentially means that virtually nothing will degrade in the landfill.

To quote from the Australian Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, which is a government-linked agency, "Our consultancy report, The Impact of Degradable Plastic Bags in Australia, found that there is probably little benefit obtained by usingbiodegradable plastics if you dispose ofthem in landfills. This is because micro-organisms cannot survive thedry, oxygen-deprived conditions normally found in landfills. All sorts of biodegradable materials, including food and paper, have been found mummified and preserved in such conditions. Even if the degradable materials degrade, the low oxygen level means that they release methane as they break down a potent greenhouse gas. Plastic bags that are commonly replaced by degradable plastics actually make up a small (by volume) of the waste going into a landfill and most plastics are inert and do not contribute to toxic emissions or leaching."

Many fail to grasp the science behind degradation of polymer-based plastics, ie. that the non-degradation of plastics should be viewed positively for the environment as it represents a form of carbon capture (carbon sequestration) without any carbon dioxide or methane being released into the atmosphere.

It is, therefore, an irony that many environmentalists are harping on the issue of degradation, which releases either carbon dioxide or methane gas, only to see millions of dollars are being spent on carbon capture and storage programmes.

Plastic bags are mainly made of raw materials such as polyethylene, which consists of carbon and hydrogen, the fundamentals of life. Even if plastics end up in landfills due to their inert non-toxic properties, plastics still do not contribute to toxic emissions or leaching to the groundwater and soil contamination.

Furthermore, waste streams containing biodegradable/compostable and polymer-based plastics would need stringent supervision as mixing all types would render the whole batch spoilt and useless for recycling.

MPMA would like to see members forge ahead to promote the 3Rs model in their business environment as any resource and be it plastics, metal or paper should not be “wasted” through degradation but should be recovered/regenerated for reuse through the practice of the 3Rs.

PRA: In view of the current hype on non-petroleum-based plastics, in your opinion is there a market for these types of plastics in Malaysia?

Lim: First of all, we would like to re-emphasise that plastics only use up 4% of the world’s crude oil. Meanwhile, a huge amount of crude oil is used as fuel for transportation (45%) and energy, heating and electricity (42%) and there is still the misconception that the production of lightweight polymer-based products causes the depletion of oil reserves.

Non-petroleum-based plastics, on the other hand, refer to biomass-based plastics. The latter is actually worse for the economy and the environment because biomass (including corn and sugarcane) is supposed to be sources of staple food and these are being used to make plastics!

Worldwide population is on the rise and so is the demand for food. As land becomes scarce, should plastics be made from biomass more land would be needed to plant the crops.  Not to mention the plentiful consumption of water and electricity in the process.

We think that there is still a long way to go in order to achieve non petroleum-based plastics in Malaysia as the demand has not picked up. In any case, as mentioned earlier, MPMA is supportive if such breakthroughs do happen in the future, as long as a holistic and integrated approach is taken.

PRA: What about recycling – how is this being promoted in the country by MPMA? Are there any statistics available to show that plastics are being recycled in the country?

Lim: In the past years, MPMA has put much effort in promoting recycling, including the running of the one month 3Rs of Plastic Bag Campaigns in 2007 organised jointly with six retailers and sponsored by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.

Also, MPMA had organised and participated in many road shows, seminars and outreach programmes to engage interest groups to create opportunities for future collaborations on ESH matters. In 2010, MPMA would be positioning itself to extend awareness and recycling programmes to schools, first operating from the Klang Valley areas and further extending to outside these areas if the response from the public is encouraging. MPMA is a firm believer that education from young is very crucial to understanding the paramount basis for recycling.

MPMA would be doing more to enhance the awareness that plastics is 100% recyclable, since public awareness on this matter is still very low, hence the negative response on plastic recyclables.

Malaysian households produced 25 million tonnes of waste in 2007-2008, of which only 17% was collected for recycling purpose.  In fact, the Housing and Local Government Minister, Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha has been quoted as having said in a meeting that Malaysia is targeting a figure of 22% for recycling by the year 2020.

To date, MPMA has close to about 100 members who are recyclers and carry out recycling businesses throughout Malaysia. In other words, recycling activity in Malaysia has not been in the doldrums but is fast growing and we definitely believe that the high recycling rate can only be achieved if there is strong cooperation from all levels of society.