MP to urge speaker on banning single-use plastics in Parliament

Summary

• Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung says he and fellow MPs will write to the Dewan Rakyat speaker on banning single-use plastics in Parliament.

• Representatives from over 100 organisations handed a memorandum at Parliament today

• This occurs at a memorandum handover involving over 100 organisations, which call on the government to lead Asean in supporting a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty that addresses health, environmental, and human rights impacts of plastic pollution.

• The memorandum highlights Southeast Asia's disproportionate burden as a plastic waste importer, urging Malaysia to show leadership in regional and global plastic waste governance.

Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung said he, along with other MPs, will write to Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul to halt the usage of single-use plastics in Parliament.

“What I observed is that there’s still plenty of single-use plastics in Parliament.

“I, jointly with our MPs, will write to the speaker to make sure we also walk the talk (and) lead by example to have zero single-use plastics in Parliament,” he said.

Lee was speaking outside Parliament today after receiving a memorandum from the representatives of over 100 organisations.

They called for a “Global Plastic Treaty” regarding the shipment of plastic waste to Southeast Asian countries.

They also called for the government to lead Asean in negotiating for the treaty during the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on plastic pollution, which will take place in Geneva, Switzerland from Aug 5 to 14.

Also receiving the memorandum were PAS’ Kuala Langat MP Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi and GPS’ Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin.

The memorandum called for the treaty to include, among others:

• An article to safeguard the health of people against the harms of plastic use

• Legally binding global controls to reduce the production and use of primary plastic polymers

• The inclusion of a global list of hazardous plastic-related chemicals that must be eliminated over time

• Global criteria identifying unnecessary plastic products

• Measures to improve plastic design that minimise waste through reusability and repairability

• Mandatory extended producer responsibility, and mandatory prior informed consent and data transparency for all plastic waste exports

“The plastics crisis is growing rapidly, and our region, Southeast Asia, is among the most affected by plastic pollution and its harmful impacts on health, biodiversity, livelihoods, climate, and human rights.

“Our region is also the top importer of plastic waste from developed countries.

“Malaysia has done well to enforce stricter regulations on the types of plastic waste that can be imported and for cracking down on illegal electronic waste trafficking.

“We urge Malaysia to show leadership in other aspects of dealing with plastic waste,” the memorandum read.

The organisations included Borneo Komrad, the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations, Greenpeace Malaysia, the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), Sahabat Alam Malaysia, and several businesses.

A study from Lourens JJ Meijer in 2021 ranked Malaysia in third place for plastic waste leakage into the ocean, with 73,098 metric tonnes annually.

The top six countries were all from Asia, with the Philippines in first place (356,371 metric tonnes per year) and India (126,513) second.

The fourth to sixth places went to China (70,707), Indonesia (56,333), and Myanmar (40,000).

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