Malacca banned non-recyclable plastic bags over a year ago, and the federal government issued a directive to separate solid trash for those living in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Kedah and Perlis in 2015.

It has been a while since Selangor launched its 3R programme – reduce, reuse and recycle. The state also banned polystyrene containers and plastic bags.

And yet, there hasn’t been any news whatsoever on whether these measures have lessened the quantity of trash at landfills or if “down-cycling” of trash even takes place.

In fact, how are we even doing on the government-launched curb-side recycling movement, where each household has to sort its trash? Does it reach recycling centres and is then made into goods?

This is usually the case with paper, aluminium cans and perhaps even glass, but plastic tends to end up in the fashion industry. Plastic bottles are shredded and used for insulation in winter coats, or mixed to become the thread in those tight exercise shirts you wear that look rather trendy and show off your hard work at the gym.

However the manner in which the ministry of urban wellbeing, housing and local government has gone about this issue is somewhat sketchy.

The authority overseeing trash in six states and our federal territories (excluding Labuan, for some reason) is SWCorp. It is tasked with collecting household trash separated between non-recyclables (twice a week) and recyclables once a week. Insofar as curb-side recycling goes, this seems simple enough, doesn’t it?

Hold on.

There is even a push to go one step further towards separating recyclables into specific types, in colour-coded bags which you will not even find sold in supermarkets or shops. If you do find the “white plastic bags” designated for plastics, do inform everyone.

The national goal for Malaysia is to increase recycling from the current 10% to 22% by 2020. Meanwhile, the rest of Europe is looking at banning landfills by 2025 and 75% recycling by 2030.

Malaysian urbanites in 2014 produced 1.25kg of waste per person daily. The nation was producing 30,000 tonnes of trash daily. Meanwhile, Europeans produce only a kilo of waste per person daily.

While it is fine and dandy to focus on separating trash and down-cycling and even recycling, there is another aspect we need to look at – that of making landfills expensive.

A metric tonne of waste in London will cost £100 (RM556) to be put into a landfill, and while Malaysia should adjust rates to coincide with it being just as painful, we also need to look at the financial benefits.

Companies that use recyclable materials – be it non-governmental organisations, small businesses or even factories producing goods in bulk – should get a tax break or a rebate due to their efforts in helping the government achieve its target.

And if local councils as well as the government are truly looking towards people taking recycling seriously, they should show it openly, especially on our streets. Where are the walkway trash-sorting bins in Kuala Lumpur?

In May 2016, a news report said that KL alone generated 3,500 metric tonnes of domestic and industrial waste which cost RM325 million a year. When a mall such as Ikano Power Centre has been providing trash-sorting bins for the past decade, is it not awkward that Kuala Lumpur City Hall does not seem to be encouraging the sorting of trash by installing these same bins openly on sidewalks?

Now we head on to the biggest issue regarding waste management – gluttony. According to a news report, food waste makes up 44.5% of the trash in Malaysia. Unless we have a gigantic compost heap, it all ends up in a landfill.

And since we have a minister so concerned with gas emissions to the point of proposing a ban on kap chai motorcycles from the city centre, why is food waste still permitted to rot in landfills and produce methane – a greenhouse gas that adversely affects the environment?

In fact, that is basically what you’re smelling inside your cars when driving past a landfill, or a chicken farm, or even an industrial cow ranch. Or maybe even when you drive on the New Pantai Expressway in the early mornings to get to your offices.

So perhaps a food wastage tax is in order, just like in Singapore. We may be a bountiful land, but it truly seems that there are many who do not value food as much as others.

Yes, we need to reduce the amount of trash we produce, but both soft and hard approaches need to be taken seriously. Half-baked measures will come to nought in the end. And Malaysians must face up to the harsh reality of environmental pollution and greenhouse gasses with just as much zeal as they reserve for politics, if not more.

Worried about the future you’re leaving behind for your sons and daughters? Why not start today by sorting the trash you have, lessening food waste and – as my friends constantly remind me – for heaven’s sake, carry a tumbler to Starbucks.

Hafidz Baharom is an FMT reader.

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