Malaysian recycler transforms ocean-bound plastic waste into furniture, goods
Every weekend, volunteers gather on Malaysia's resort island of Tioman to gather ocean-bound plastic that can eventually be transformed into pellets and made into a range of products including auto parts, home appliances and furniture, with help from a recycling plant.
"Everything is wrapped in plastic these days," said Sydney Steedland, the 15-year-old founder of The Sea Monkey Project, which helps to collect the waste. "It's never going to actually stop the situation if you don't tell people to stop using the plastic first and actually deal with the problem of it getting into the environment in the first place."
In a WWF report looking at plastic packaging consumption in six Asian countries released earlier this year, Malaysia was one of the top consumers of plastic packaging, with around 16 kilogram per person each year.
The report looked at China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, which contribute 60 percent of the estimated eight million tonnes of plastic that enter the world's oceans each year.
Heng Hiap Industries, based in the southern Malaysian state of Johor, is one of a growing number of companies working with environmentalists to collect and remove plastic waste from Malaysian waters. It has been in operation for 17 years, recycling 60,000 tonnes of plastic each year, 1,200 of that ocean-bound plastic that it buys from groups including The Sea Monkey Project.
"With this, we are able to serve the conscientious consumers," said the company's founder, Seah Kian Hoe.
The pellets are eventually sold to dozens of companies working in a number of fields, including home appliances, cosmetic packaging, toys and household products.
Furniture maker KIAN is one of those companies. It has created chairs out of the recycled plastic for restaurants and hotels. The company recently launched a design during the pandemic that sells for about $77.50 per unit. It said business has been slow so far due to the outbreak, but has hopes it will pick up.
"Every product that we make, we know that we are doing something for the environment," said branding manager Irene Lim, in a Kuala Lumpur showroom.
Saturday (September 19) marks the Coastal Cleanup Day, when various groups and volunteers remove trash from water bodies around the world.
(Source: Reuters)
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