SIBU: The participation of everyone is needed to achieve environmental sustainability in Sarawak, which is one of the three main pillars under the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS 2030).
Sarawak Deputy Minister for Public Health and Housing, Michael Tiang said this could be achieved by carrying out various educational programmes on 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle) in the community, which also strengthened community awareness on environmental protection and reduction of waste in landfills.
“According to the councils, in 2019, Sarawak spent RM58mil or 34 per cent of its revenue to manage solid waste, including maintenance.
“In 2020, this has decreased to RM55mil, which is about 32 per cent,” he said during the prize-giving ceremony of the Sibu and Sarikei Zones School Recycling Campaign 2022 at Sarawak Islamic Complex here today.
He added that according to a study conducted by the International Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Malaysia’s recycling rate was only 28 per cent compared to Singapore’s 61 per cent and Germany’s 68 per cent.
“This means that if no efforts are being made to recoup recyclable materials, solid waste management will slowly eat up the council’s financial resources in the long run.
“On average, Sibu and Sarikei are collecting about 94,622 tonnes of municipal waste annually,” he said.
Meanwhile, on the e-waste collection, 73.4 metric tonnes of e-waste were collected in Sarawak in 2020 and 14.9 metric tonnes in 2021.
“As Sarawak becomes more industrialised, it is our duty as a member of the local community to realise the importance of proper waste disposal to environment preservation.
“By nurturing the attitude of care towards the environment, I believe we can manage the control of e-waste under existing regulations.”
He said his ministry together with the councils would continue to put in efforts to improve solid waste management in the state as this was one of the important elements to creating sustainable cities.
“Efficient solid waste management will have an impact on the reduction of greenhouse gas generation, and it is also a part of the state’s contribution to help reducing global warming due to climate change.
“Our initiative can be of great benefit to the development of the Sarawak Sustainable Blueprint announced by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg during the Malaysian Conservation Conference in March 2022.”
