KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 — The government plans to establish a centralised waste park to process and recycle plastic waste, Zuraida Kamaruddin said in Parliament today.

The housing and local government minister said once built, any plastic waste recycling factories outside of the centralised waste park will be deemed illegal.

“The ministry plans to centralise plastic waste processing or recycling work to make it easier for us to monitor and deal with them. The way forward to manage clean plastic waste imports is to place all these plastic waste factories into a centralised waste park.

“Any factory outside of this designated area will be considered as an illegal factory,” she said during Question Time in response to Tumpat MP Che Abdullah Mat Nawi (PAS).

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Zuraida said her ministry is also working closely with the Customs Department to inspect each container entering the country so that only clean plastics are allowed to be brought in.

Government backbencher Taiping MP Teh Kok Lim asked Zuraida about the Kedah government’s decision not to issue any licence for plastic waste recycling centres.

She explained that any approved permit for plastic waste imports must go through her ministry, but added that approved permits (AP) and licensing for the factory sites rests with the local authorities.

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“We issue the AP licence for the import of plastic waste and before issuing it, we will inspect the site first. However, the site approval is the purview of the local councils and local authorities.

“They have the right not to grant the license for the sites,” said Zuraida.