Solid
waste management is one of the environmental issues in Brunei Darussalam.
According to a survey conducted by the Department of Environment, Parks and
Recreation in 2005, the total amount of solid waste generated reaches to about
189,000 tonnes
per year. This means that every individual generate about 1.4kg of solid waste
per day in which it is one of the highest in the region. From the total amount
of solid waste generated, 16% is made up of plastic waste and it is largely
comprise of plastic bags.
Plastic
bags, better known in this country as 'Beg kerisik-kerisik'
or 'Kantung
kuyas-kuyas’
or ‘kantung
ingar’
has long been used as a convenience when shopping. Plastic bags are readily
available as they are provided for free in every shops and department stores.
However,
despite it's convenience, the nature of plastic bags of being durable and not
being rot easily is a problem for the environment. Plastic bags take a long
time to decompose and is estimated to take more than 1,000 years. In the
process of decay, plastic bags also produce toxic substances that can
contaminate soil and water resources in which can affects crops, plants,
animals and etc. Apart from the issues of indiscrimate
disposal of plastic bags, plastic bags also poses threat to marine life and can
cause death. Plastic bags that are washed away into the sea or the ocean are
often mistaken for jellyfish or food for marine predators. In addition to that,
plastic bags can cause drains to be clogged that may lead to flooding and also
stagnant water with potential of disease outbreak such as malaria and etc.
Globally,
it is estimated that 1 trillion of plastic bags are used every year. In other
statistics, Taiwan uses 20 billion plastic bags per year (900 per person),
Japan uses 300 billion plastic bags annually (100 each) and Australia use 6.9
billion plastic bags each year (326 plastic bags per person).
In
Brunei Darussalam, through a survey conducted by the Department of Environment,
Parks and Recreation in 2011 for two weekends, it is found that the use of
plastic bags for one supermarket is from 3000 – 8000 bags. Of this amount,
every supermarket will use 144.000 to 393.600 plastic bags each year, which it
is just an estimated amount on weekends only. How about for those shopping on a
week days? Milimewah
Department store reported that the use of plastic bags is about 6 million a
year. By estimation, if 3000 – 8000 plastic bags are used every day by every
department store in the country, then 20
department stores will be using 22 - 60 million in a year.
The
World Environment Day 2008 has witnessed the launching of “Reduce the Use of
Plastic Bags and Promote the Use of Reusable Bags Campaign” by the Ministry of
Development via Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation, which carried
the theme: “Kick the Habit – Reduce the use of plastic bags towards a low
carbon economy”. The campaign was
launched as part of the Government’s effort to reduce the amount of plastic
waste generated and disposed to our landfill and at the same time to increase
the rate of recycling. The event was launched with the collaboration of the
Giant Megamall at the premise itself. On the day, reusable bags were
distributed for free to shoppers. The staff of Department of Environment, Parks
and Recreation were also present to give advice to shoppers on the use of the
reusable bags. Following the launch, more bags were distributed to several
major shopping centres
such as Hua Ho Department Store, Supasave,
Utama Grand, Jaya Hypermart.
Not only in Brunei Muara District, the exercise was extended to all the
districts. Free reusable bags were also distributed during Ramadhan at two of
the major food market.
Following
the campaign, the 'No Plastic Bag Weekend' Initiative on the 26th
March 2011 for Saturday and Sunday where participating stores no longer provide
carrier plastic bags to customers. Given the encouraging and positive response
from the public, on the 16th February 2012,
the initiative has been extended to include a Friday, making it a
complete ‘green’ weekend. In conclusion, it is expected that this initiative
can achieve the target of the government towards improving the level of
recycling in this country to 10% in 2015 and 15% in 2020.
Prepared by: Department of Enviroment, Parks and Recreation
Published Date: 2013
