The World’s No. 1 Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber
Materials News According to a Greenpeace report, covering the global plastics waste trade from 2016-2018, the majority of the plastics is being rerouted to countries with inadequate regulations to stop large imports, or those with inefficient waste management systems. Ultimately, Southeast Asia has become a likely destination. According to the report, the top five exporting countries/regions between JanuaryNovember 2018 were US (16.5% of total exports), Japan (15.3%), Germany (15.6%), UK (9.4%), and Belgium (6.9%). On the flipside, the top five importing countries between January-November 2018 were Malaysia (15.7% of total imports), Thailand (8.1%), Vietnam (7.6%), Hong Kong (6.8%), and the US (6.1%). Malaysia becomes a plastic waste dumping ground Reportedly, in Malaysia, a number of illegal facilities sprouted up in the state of Selangor, with the influx of 750,000 tonnes of plastic waste imports from the period last year, according to the country’s Department of Environment (DOE). In its efforts to keep in check environmental pollution, the country’s Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) ordered 148 illegal recycling plants to cease operations between January-April this year. But the massive coordinated enforcement operations mounted by MESTECC, local authorities and the DOE, resulted in the illegal businesses moving elsewhere to the country to areas close to ports. Most of the facilities operate deep in the oil palm estates, away from prying eyes.
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H o m e I n n o v a t i o n . K 2 0 1 9
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manufacturing, advanced materials or other forward-looking topics in the global p l a s t i c s a n d r u b b e r i n d u s t r y – K 2 019 i s the place to be to scout for new solutions. The fascinating forum for innovation and investment. The industry’s most important business platform. Around 3,200 international exhibitors offer you the latest in r esear ch and de velopment. We l c o m e t o t h e s h o w ! Malaysia’s officials have been tasked with the laborious process of identifying and shipping back containers of unrecyclable plastic waste to respective countries
How is it that the waste is trickling into the country? According to MESTECC, a recycling company in the UK had sent almost 50,000 tonnes of waste plastic over the past two years.
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