Most land areas in our country are water catchment areas. If we don’t make an effort to recycle, these area might be used as landfills. As a result, toxic leachate from decomposing waste will pollute our water supplies.
Imagine… recycling one aluminium can saves enough energy to keep a TV set on for three hours. And recycling one glass bottle saves 100 watts, enough energy to light a bulb for 4 hours.
Air and water pollution and living in close proximity with landfills will effects your health and expose your family to diseases. Rats, flies and cockroaches that live on the landfills may carry dangerous diseases.
Natural decomposition of waste releases methane gas and sulphur. They not only smell bad but pollute the air and contribute to global warming. The more waste we create, the more landfills will be needed. This will create and unpleasant environment.
It is not wise to build one landfill after another to accommodate our increasing amount of waste. To find suitable sites for landfills, pollution, hygiene and other issues must be considered. Most available land left in the country are not suitable at all. With the amount of waste we throw away, and if we don’t recycle, you may find landfills too close for comfort one day.
Many of us are unaware that our waste can be recycled and reused. For example, used paper can be recycled into newspapers, tissue and so on. Our country spends more than RM4 million just to import more than 25,000 tonnes of waste paper every month to make recycling possible. Why waste our resources to import waste paper when we have them in abundance? Likewise for glass, plastic, aluminium, steel and other recyclable materials.
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