The current amount of plastic waste is at a critical level, and this will lead not only lead to negative impacts towards the country’s waste management system but also damage the global ecosystem. According to a report by an energy provider in the United Kingdom, Malaysia is among the ten countries heavily contributing to the world’s plastic pollution, and this is a worrying situation. 

Uncontrolled use of plastics is often committed by consumers who want convenience without considering the long-term effects towards the environment and future generation. Aware of this situation, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) through its Centre for Sustainable Development and the Green Ranger UMT has taken the initiative to conduct a campaign to increase the public’s awareness regarding the danger of single-use plastics.   

According to the project’s leader Dr. Izan Jaafar, the Let’s Refuse Plastic at the Market campaign was launched to increase the public’s awareness about the importance of avoiding single-use plastics to conserve the environment.

“Plastic waste is mostly caused by single-use plastics that are carelessly thrown away. They are drifted into the rivers and then the ocean, where they disrupt the marine ecosystem,” she said. 

She added that plastic takes hundreds of years to degrade, which endangers marine lives such as turtles, seabirds, and fish as they accidentally eat the plastic pieces. This greatly damages the aquatic ecosystem humans depend on.   

According to the 2022 Solid Waste Storage System Guidelines for New Development, farmers’ markets and night markets contribute 0.586 kg/ m² waste and the majority is plastic. The lack of civic awareness among consumers, who view waste management issue as trivial, has to be addressed through a holistic approach. 

As the first step, the campaign was held at farmers’ markets since these locations have been identified as having the highest use of plastic.  

“With involvement of 60 participants, including school students, NGO members, UMT students, and members of the state government, the campaign was aimed at encouraging the alternatives, such as using environmentally friendly containers and reusable bags. We also distributed these during our campaign.” 

Dr. Izan also stressed the important roles played by children and youths in the effort ot reduce plastic pollution.

“Cultivating environmentally friendly practices such as recycling and using environmentally friendly products from the early age is an important measure as it not only helps reduce plastic waste but also supports the United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goals (SDG) such as SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 14 (Life Below Water),” she said. 

As a university renown for marine and environmental research, UMT seeks to become the leader in fighting plastic pollution.

Through various awareness programmes such as this, UMT aims to reinforce the public’s commitment towards environmental conservation and educate them to practice a more sustainable lifestyle.   

Published by:

Corporate Communications Office

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu