INGENIEUR
The wide range of packaging made from plastics .
and said to be the highest in Asia ? It is truly misleading and there are surely many other developed countries in Asia that is ahead of Malaysia in this awful race . It is not even an issue worth highlighting , but still those headlines are repeatedly quoted by many people , including the Ministers , regardless that they are actually not true and misleading .
Conclusion
In conclusion , plastics are definitely not something created or chemically engineered to pollute the world and kill the animals . It is an invention that makes our daily life more efficient and convenient . It is mismanagement and bad attitudes that have caused all the troubles and the impact on us in return . It is a fact that we are relying heavily on plastic products in our daily lives now , and the impacts from mismanagement of plastic waste are therefore enormous , to an alarming stage where it is slowly destroying the entire ecosystem of the natural environment and endangering human lives .
When the problems of mismanagement and attitudes cannot be rectified , no doubt other approaches will be necessary in order to find long term and sustainable solutions . However , the issues of plastics should not be managed emotionally . Decisions should be science-based and rational , supported by sufficient facts from detailed studies . Most importantly , they should never be business or politically oriented . Particularly in the case of banning of specific types of plastic products , the alternative or replacement should be studied in depth to avoid creating another undesirable problem .
It is meaningless to compare one country to another in terms of plastic waste generation . More importantly , we should understand how much effort each country has taken to address the problems effectively . Data does not indicate that Malaysia is low in plastic generation such that we have nothing to worry about . We have a lot to do to ensure that we are on the right track in tackling the global plastic issues . In knowing the actual culprits behind the problems , we should probably put more focus on plastic production requirements and consumer behaviours , instead of blaming plastic products .
54 VOL 87 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2021