NO PLASTIC BAGS ???

While I was away for a few weeks performing my Haj, I asked a friend to keep articles relating to my interest. This happens to be on PLASTIC BAGS.

It seems that the Chief Minister of Penang is banning the use of plastic bags in Penang effectively from January 2011. Actually I don't blame the Chief Minister of Penang for taking such an action....because plastic bags are a menace to the environment. Good to use, easy to use, light in weight as it is but a trouble to the future generation if one does not know how to handle it.
WHY ?
Because if you burn it, the plastic bags will not be destroyed but changes it's form and at the same time while burning the plastics will give out gases which is not suitable for the human as well as the environment. And if the plastic bags are being collected and ferried to the landfill area...which is the main destination for all the waste material the plastic bags will be eventually buried. Plastics in whatever form if buried will not decompose even for 500 years. This will lead to future problems for the future generation.

On the other hand a lot of the plastics are also "just thrown away whenever and where ever. Many will contribute to the unsightly landscape having litters everywhere.

Some may end up in the drains and cause drainage blockage and may contribute to flash flood which is happening far too often. As in the case of Bangladesh here has been documentations that a major factor of the frequent floods that has taken numerous lives and have destroyed so many properties mainly because of the clogging of the drainage systems by the deposition of the plastic bags. This can be overcome by using the latest innovation that we already have and yet achieving an economic gain from the production of high grade diesel.

Some plastic bags may even land into streams then to the rivers and finally into the sea. This may seem so innocent but as a floating plastic bag in the sea....it mimics the shape and movements of the jellyfish. We have seen on numerous occasions that turtles have been found dead as a result of being choked by the ingestion of plastic bags. All in all.....plastic bags are a problem to the society now and going to be a big problem environmentally in the future.

ALL PROBLEMS REMAINS A PROBLEM IF WE DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SOLVE THAT PROBLEM.

HOWEVER....IF THAT EXISTING PROBLEM CAN BE SOLVE AND CAN HAVE A MORE VIABLE OPTION THEN IT IS NO LONGER CONSIDERED AS A PROBLEM. THEN THE PROBLEMS CAUSED PREVIOUSLY BY PLASTIC BAGS WILL NO LONGER BE A PROBLEM. I am sure such a statement can be agreed upon.

Well we have a solution and a relatively very good solution.

Perlis the smallest state in Malaysia is not short of wanting to contribute to the development of the State and the development of Malaysia.

Some months ago, Perlis launched Malaysia"s first PLASTIC TO DIESEL PROJECT. This was not an MOU signing ceremony with all the fan fair but the actual gusto. The MB of Perlis launched the production plant. The ceremony was recorded and went into the newspapers the following day. Even DYMM Raja Perlis viewed the plant and was impressed with such a plant. The question is HOW COME IT DID NOT CATCH THE ATTENTION OF THE MALAYSIAN SCIENTIFIC FRATERNITY, PETRONAS, THE MINISTRIES IN THE GOVERNMENT (MOSTI, GREENTECH, ENVIRONMENT etc etc)....WHY ???

This project could propel Perlis and Malaysia into the global market.

Tell me a time where diesel as a commodity that is not wanted. It is an energy source which is getting less and less by the year. What more the cost of fuel is getting higher and higher every time. And from today's newspaper the cost per liter of diesel is getting closer and closer to the cost of petroleum Ron 95 and yet our quality of Malaysian diesel is of low quality.

This innovation has emerged at the right time when diesel prices are soaring higher and higher. The awareness of the environment is very critical now plus the problem of what to do with the plastics when it is the best form so far for carrying goods because of its tensile strength.

What Penang intends to do does not mean it has solved the problems of plastic bags and wrappers.

What Perlis intends to do is to be the fabricator for this innovation so that more and more States in Malaysia and more and more municipalities can have such a plant to cater for its problems and churn out usable good quality diesel which would be in turn use to mobilize the water pumps, tractors, lorries or anything that requires diesel to run the machinery.

As far as the quality of diesel is concern, it is about time that the Malaysian consumer get a better quality diesel than what we are getting now If you have a diesel run car or vehicle...the diesel engine will deteriorate faster by using our currently supplied diesel.

What Malaysia can do is to get this high quality diesel and sell it as a commodity in the international market to get premium price and import in either Eur-3 or Euro-4 grade diesel. In this way....everybody wins.
We will rid or reduce the plastic waste, the environment will be cleaner, the Government or PETRONAS will be able to get premium price for the high grade diesel by selling in the international market and we the consumers will be able to get better grade diesel to use i our vehicles or machine and will make the vehicle or machines last longer with less maintenance because of using a better quality diesel.

This is an innovation that will be a contribution towards the State of Perlis, to Malaysia, to the world, to society, to the environment and to THE FUTURE