Showing posts with label Worst plastic polluters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Worst plastic polluters. Show all posts

Monday 24 February 2020

Malaysia: Worst plastic polluters in Asia



In a report published by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysians top the list of plastic polluters in Asia. The survey covers countries such as China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam - around 60 percent of plastic debris entering the world’s oceans comes from these countries.


Interestingly, the GDP per capita in Malaysia is also the highest among the five other countries. The WWF has linked this connection by pointing out that the increase in the use of plastic is mainly due to the rapid economic growth of the country. During recent years, Malaysia has also returned almost 4,000 tons of unrecyclable plastic to the countries that had shipped it to them. Other countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia have also complained about the growing trade in unrecyclable trash. While Asia has seen incredible growth in terms of economy, and technology, it hasn’t been able to keep pace with the recycling of plastic waste. In the EU region, around 40 percent of plastic packaging waste is recycled. According to WWF, 93 percent of waste is dumped in the environment in low-income countries, while only 4 percent of waste is dumped in industrialized countries.


Malaysians are the biggest per capita users of plastic packaging, with the average Malaysian consuming 16.78kg of plastic packaging each year.