16,000-Tonne Plastic Poser
By Ben Ng
Bandar Seri Begawan - A shocking 16,000 tonnes of plastic left over from unused plastic bags sees itself being burnt at the Sungai Akar rubbish dump every year — a figure that is expected to rise unless more people turn environment-friendly.
| Speaking to those present at the World Environment Day launching at Giant Hypermart yesterday that was themed "Kick the Habit! Reduce the use of Plastic bags, Towards a Low Carbon Economy", the Minister of Development urged Bruneians to reduce their excessive use of plastic bags — a trend that began sometime in the 1960s. The Minister talked about what happens after the plastic bags are no longer needed. "Once we don't need them anymore, they are disposed of and taken to the Sungai Akar rubbish dump where every year, a total of 16,000 tonnes of plastic accumulate," said Pehin Orang Kaya Hamzah Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Hj Abdullah Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar. "These plastic bags that are thrown away come in many colours, and can be seen | Advertisement |
| floating in our rivers and drains, providing an unsightly view for the public," said the minister. |
The plastic bags, he said, also have the potential to block drainage systems causing minor floods when it rains. Additionally, the plastic bags do not decompose and take a long time to disintegrate, the minister added, resulting in a majority of plastic taking up the landfill at the Sungai Akar site.
"More importantly, these plastic bags release toxic chemicals once they start breaking down. This will result in severe pollution of our land and rivers, which will ultimately affect our quality of life," the minister said.
In response to that, several countries have taken the initiative to discourage the excessive use of plastic bags, said the minister. "Ways to reduce excessive use of plastic bags are not costly and don't take a lot of effort."
One should ensure that all the space in the plastic bag is used and there is no space left for more goods.
Plastic bags that are no longer needed should be stored for future use and not thrown away.
If possible, try not to use plastic bags at all. Bring your own bags from home when you go shopping.
Apart from saving resources, a decrease in the use of plastic bags will also result in several other benefits.
The amount of plastic at the Sungai Akar site will ultimately decrease, thus reducing the level of pollution.
A reduction in the use of plastic bags will also save natural resources, the minister said.
"Research conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in September 2006 showed that with every tonne of plastic, as much as 51-56 million Btu of energy can be saved, every million Btu being equivalent to eight gallons of petrol."
Furthermore, the 400 tonnes of plastic that Brunei manufactures annually have to be disposed of accordingly to avoid further pollution, added the minister.
"The government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan through the Department of Parks and Recreation under the Ministry of Development, is carrying out several projects under the Rancangan Kemajuan Negara 20072012."
One such project aims to ultimately shut down the Sungai Akar site, while creating an "engineered landfill" that would serve as a site for the three districts of BruneiMuara. Belait and Tutong.
"I hope that this campaign will raise the level of awareness among all groups of society to work together to protect our environment and its surroundings," the minister said. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
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