Just over a month ago, it was discovered that Australia has been dumping tonnes of waste in Malaysia. They had previously been dumping their plastic rubbish in China, but ever since China stopped accepting plastic waste, Australia has resorted to dumping more than 71,000 tonnes of rubbish in Malaysia in just 12 months.
Now, a similar situation has surfaced after plastic waste that was to be recycled was discovered in a wasteland somewhere near Ipoh. The rubbish is said to have come from Britain after it was found with “the fingerprints of British supermarkets and council recycling departments” all over it.
Source: The Sun
This follows a report by BBC where British TV presenter Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall found a pile of plastic waste in a jungle in Perak that measures up to six metres high, according to Mail Online.
Source: NST
Source: NST
“It’s like some dystopian nightmare… a plastic planet,” Fearnley-Whittingstall, also a celebrity chef, said.
In the same report, Fearnley-Whittingstall also detected recycling bags that were branded by authorities from Britain, which means that people in the country who had responsibly filled their green bins with the intention of helping the environment had been deceived.
“When we put this in our recycling bin back in the United Kingdom, we think we’re doing the right thing. I do my recycling and I feel good about it. At least I used to. I don’t feel so good now. I feel embarrassed, I feel ashamed, I feel angry, I feel I’ve been lied to,” he said.
Source: Wales Online
Plastic bags and packaging from M&S, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Waitrose were among the tonnes of supermarket items found in the pile. Local council recycling bags, split and torn, were also found, suggesting that they were used for their intended purpose by well-meaning Britons, but dumped all the same.
Source: Mirror
It’s horrifying that so much of waste has been dumped in our country, Malaysia. We hope the authorities will look into this and prevent it from getting worse than it already is.
Also read: For the Past 1 Year, Australia Has Been Dumping 71Mil KG Of Recyclable Plastic Waste in M’sia
