Malaysia remains the world’s second-largest importer of plastic waste from the EU, despite government pledges to prevent the country from becoming a global dumping ground. The amount of plastic waste imported from the EU rose by 35% last year compared to 2022, according to Eurostat data.

The EU exported 8.5 million tons of paper, plastic and glass in 2023, with more than one-fifth destined for Malaysia’s dumps. Indonesia and Vietnam were also large importers of Europe’s waste.  While around 90% of Europe’s waste is treated locally, exports have surged by 72% since 2004, according to figures from the European Commission.

Critics question EU’s recycling ethics The EU has agreed to ban plastic waste exports to countries outside the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), including Malaysia, starting in mid-2026. The measure aims to prevent materials like plastics or chemicals from being sent to countries that cannot properly treat them.

Jan Dell, an engineer and founder of The Last Beach Cleanup, a campaign group, told DW that the EU’s incoming ban is an “admission” that plastic waste exports are “harmful and unethical.” However, she criticized the EU for “massively increasing the amount of plastic trash they ship to Asia now.” “As the EU lectures the world to have high green ambitions, it is blatantly hypocritical and a brazen ploy to export and pretend plastic is recycled rather than banning single-use plastics or incinerating [them] at home and counting the carbon emitted,” she added.

https://www.dw.com/en/malaysia-struggles-to-halt-plastic-waste-imports-from-europe/a-70638812

Reclaimed Land for a A New Port!

Comment: I really hope that Singapore can start importing waste and charging nations for it. We have a fantastic waste management and have been able to clear our landfill with new reclamation. It seems that the landfill ash is already being used!

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/semakau-landfill-filling-waste-management-incineration-reduce-reuse-recycle-3909436

09 Nov 2023 06:03PM(Updated: 09 Nov 2023 06:04PM)

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s only landfill, Semakau, is now more than half full and environmental experts are sounding the alarm on the need for people to reduce their waste – and fast. 

The plot of land, which is larger than 650 football fields, has two parts. The first is nearly at maximum capacity, while the other is around 10 per cent filled. 

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ash-from-semakau-landfill-could-be-used-to-reclaim-land-for-mega-tuas-port-project

UPDATED Nov 11, 2024, 11:25 AM

SINGAPORE – About one-tenth of the materials needed to reclaim land for Tuas Port Phase 3 could come from Semakau Landfill, freeing up a large portion of the country’s only landfill.

Within the next five years or so, the National Environment Agency (NEA) aims to mine the landfill waste, possibly mix it with cement and use it as an alternative to sand for the reclamation, The Straits Times has learnt.

The plan is to excavate about 10 million cubic m of landfill waste, which is about 35 per cent of the 28 million cubic m that Semakau can hold. Tuas Port Phase 3 – which is being planned – will need more than 100 million cubic m of reclamation fill.