THE Federal Territories Ministry will not back down on its decision to make Kuala Lumpur polystyrene-free.

Licensed businesses must use biodegradable food packaging instead of polystyrene and plastic bags starting Jan 1, although enforcement will only start on Sept 1.

Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor reminded city folk that people did not realise how dangerous the chemicals from polystyrene could be.

“I am no expert. But I know it is very convenient (to use polystyrene). Many people rely on it without realising that it is harmful to them,’’ said Tengku Adnan.

“Being exposed to the chemical for the long term can be detrimental to one’s health,’’ he added.

He elaborated that research carried out by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) showed that the chemical, styrene, which results from polystyrene coming into contact with sunlight, was bad for us.

“Polystyrene packaging normally contains residual styrene and these chemicals can migrate into food when the pack is new or when it comes into contact with heat,” Tengku Adnan said, adding that the chemicals can be absorbed by the body and lead to health problems.

“People tend to take their health for granted and do not realise the long-term effects of styrene. For example, when you pack a teh tarik, the chemicals from the polystyrene cup will leach into the drink.

“Now, you may think that this is no big deal since it is only in small doses, but if you were to drink a hot beverage from polystyrene cups several times a day every day, then that will be dangerous to your health,’’ Tengku Adnan said.

He said that on top of that, plastic containers also contained a dangerous metal substance called cadmium which is used as a plasticiser to maintain the quality of the plastic.

Costly to manage trash

“Another reason for the ban is because the cost of managing waste is increasing year by year, as the capital expenditure (capex) for a new landfill cost more than RM30mil, while the operating expenses (opex) for it is between RM28.80 and RM49 per tonne,’’ he said.

According to Tengku Adnan, each rubbish truck entering a landfill would be weighed before and after it had deposited waste to calculate the tonnage for billing.

Based on data provided by the Public Cleansing Management Corporation (SWCorp), Kuala Lumpur folk generate 3,500 tonnes of domestic and industrial wastes a day.

All that rubbish is costing taxpayers in the country almost RM2bil to clean up.

For Kuala Lumpur alone, the cost of public cleansing and waste management is a whopping RM325mil a year.

RM40mil of it goes toward tipping charges and waste disposal at the Bukit Tagar landfill.

“Even though the percentage of polystyrene waste is not that high, we want to encourage people to recycle. Currently 80% of plastic and polystyrene are not recycled,’’ he said.

Also, polystyrene takes about 500 years to degrade hence it is very bad for the environment.

“So if everyone switches to using biodegradable materials, we can reduce the cost on waste management and cause less harm to the environment,’’ the minister said, adding that the materials were compostable.

To ensure its green initiative works, the ministry has been engaging with Kuala Lumpur City Hall, Putrajaya Corporation (PPj), Labuan Corporation, as well as with food establishments, traders associations, business councils, shopping centres, and biodegradable product manufacturers.

“We got 17 plastic manufacturers in the Federal Territories to talk to 14 hawker associations on this. We want the manufacturers to try and match the cost of normal plastic or sell at a reasonable price to traders,’’ he said.

“In fact, some manufacturers even agreed to supply biodegradable packaging to traders at the cost of normal plastic,” he disclosed.

Manufacturers were encouraged to carry out awareness campaigns and meet up with traders and provide free samples. This was carried out at the Raja Bot Market in Chow Kit, which was picked for the pilot project.

“But change is never easy, especially when people are forced to pay more for something they have always been getting cheaply. We also faced opposition from some plastic and polystyrene manufacturers who were against the initiative, but we are going through with it and more programmes to create awareness will be carried out,’’ reiterated Tengku Adnan.

StarMetro recently reported that the Federal Territories Ministry had made three major amendments to the law to nab those not following the rules.

They will take a five-pronged approach to ensure that the ban is enforced. These are: revoking licence, imposing a penalty, forfeiting deposit, confiscating goods and imposing jail term.

“For Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, we will use the 1Wilayah Licensing by-laws in the Local Government Act 1976, to carry out enforcement, and licence holders who fail to adhere to the ruling will be compounded up to RM2,000.

“As for those in Labuan, compounds will be issued under the Trades Licensing Ordinance 1948,” said Tengku Adnan.

TAGS / KEYWORDS:
Central Region , Polysstyrene , DBKL

Source:
http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/community/2017/01/03/minister-firm-on-making-ft-polystyrenefree/