PUTRAJAYA had set an unambitious target to achieve national recycling rate (NRR) of 40% in 2025. The National Recycling Rate (NRR) has reached 31.52% last year compared to 30.67% in 2020. At this rate, the NRR will hover around 35% in 2025.
This is a disappointing outcome when coupled with the fact that the NRP was started in 1993!
It is to note that solid waste management comes under the purview of Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT). The regulatory body is called Jabatan Pengurusan Sisa Pepejal Negara (JPSPN). Meanwhile, the executing government-linked companies (GLC) are are SWCorp, Alam Flora Sdn Bhd and KDEB Waste Management Sdn Bhd.
Previously, ministers, bureaucrats and GLCs directors with their six-figure salaries per annum had repeatedly blamed the people’s mentality for the low NRR to deflect their inability to solve public problems. However, these people do not have any moral ground to blame the people because they had failed to fully utilise the policymaking tools available to improve recycling rate.
Private profits thrive due to public ignorance
Firstly, consumers lack guidance to recycle or dispose goods at end of its lifespan and its packaging. Manufacturers produces millions of iterations of consumer goods and packaging. Majority of consumers goods and its packaging are made of combination of recyclable and non-recyclable parts.
Manufacturer’s emphasis on profits before the planet, naturally, does not motivate them to improve on their products’ environmental footprint. Globally, manufacturers only improve their products environmental footprint when under intense pressure from green consumer movement or Government regulations.
As example; an instant noodle cup is made up of aluminium foil for seasoning and top cover; with rigid plastic cup, spoon and paper for produce information. Most people assume that the aluminium foil can recycled in the aluminium bin.
However, aluminium and silver foil are non-recyclable items! The rigid plastic cup and spoon must be cleaned to remove food decontamination before recycling.
Another example is the empty tissue boxes. Tissue boxes are made of box with some flimsy transparent plastic flap around the dispenser hole. The plastic flap needs to be removed before the box is sent to be recycled!
However, 99% of Malaysians do not have the knowledge on how to dismantle and separate multi-material consumer goods before recycling. Eventually, the whole item is dumped into landfill bound trash bins. Hundreds of tonnes of landfill bound waste could have been recycled if it was separated correctly.
Secondly, manufacturers and big businesses are systematically misleading environmental conscious consumers on a daily basis to consume products, giving false pretence that those items are recyclable. One such example are papers cups and plates that are handed out by fast food chain outlets nationwide.
About 20 years ago, fast food chain provided dine-in customers with reusable plates and cups. This had been replaced with papers plates and cups. Meanwhile, high end coffee chains replaced reusable mugs for disposable cups.
These were method done to reduce and eliminate workers like table cleaners and dishwashers respectively. However, these labour cost savings tactics never trickled down as higher wages for existing workers or cheaper goods for people. However, the overall society continues to drown under piles of trash.
Majority of people tends to feel good after throwing those paper cups and plates into paper recycling bins. Unknown to them, the inner part of papers plates and cups are coated with plastic. The plastic lined papers cups and plates cannot be recycled but can contaminate the process of recycling papers.
Mixing non-recyclable waste with recyclable materials reduces the effective recycling rate (ERR). Although, 31.52% of waste is sent to recycling centre but that does not mean 31.52% are actually recycled. Certain non-recyclable plastics such as flimsy wrappers and plastics bags can damaged recycling equipment. Meanwhile, pizza box and paper straws with food contamination cannot be recycled.
The overall effective recycling rate may actually be far lower than national recycling rate. Big businesses are knowingly withholding from full and proper disclosure to mislead people into assuming they had made environmentally responsible consumption.
Thirdly, people are making purchase without knowing the amount of non-recyclable material inside the enclosed packaging. Manufacturers are steadily reducing the proportion of consumed goods without decreasing the size of external packing by introducing extra internal packing.
One such example is the processed food packaging such as biscuits and crackers. For 10 years, consumers could eat the biscuits directly after opening the main packaging. About five years ago, the biscuits were repackaged into smaller packs within the main packaging. Today, there are large transparent plastic trays holding the small packs in the main package.
Consumer will not realise the proportion of unneeded packaging until they open external packaging at home. The so-called “free market” has a free reign to trick consumers into buying things without full disclosure. Private profit thrives by preying on public ignorance through unethical business practices.
Recycling guide label
Therefore, the Government must introduce Recycling Guide Label in both Bahasa Malaysia and English. The label must provide instructions on steps to separate, recycle and dispose the items and its packaging. Cear instruction is necessary to improve recycling at source.
Recycling Guide Label ensures higher Effective Recycling Rate (ERR) by minimising contaminations at source of separation. Recycling Guide Label will provide higher disclosure to consumer about their waste impact before the purchase.
It will also inculcate eco-conscious practises by putting downward pressure on the revenue of manufacturers with wasteful practices. Subsequently, manufacturers will design environmentally friendly goods and packaging.
Moving forward
There are existing federal laws and regulations that allows Government to enforce such labelling onto consumer goods. However, these laws are not under the purview of KPKT. Regulations and standards for labels such for food, cosmetic and electronics are fragmented across multiple ministries such as Health and Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs.
Henceforth, the Recycling Guide Label requires multi-ministry cooperation for execution. As complex it sounds, its merely requires the commitment from the Cabinet. Malaysia could achieve NRR of 50% by 2025 through implementing the Recycling Guide Label. – Jan 25, 2022.
Sharan Raj is a human rights activist, environmentalist and infrastructure policy analyst
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
