PETALING JAYA: Malaysia comes at the fifth spot after making it to the top 10 countries that throws the most amount of plastic waste and rubbish into the ocean.
A survey conducted by Utility Bidder, an energy service provider from the United Kingdom found the findings, reported New Straits Times (NST).
In the top 10 list, only Malaysia and the Philippines are from the South East Asia region, while the other countries are from the African continent and South America.
The survey has placed Malaysia in the fifth spot, behind Saint Lucia (fourth), Trinidad and Tobago (third), Suriname and the Philippines which occupied the top spot.
It was further reported that the survey found that Malaysia discards about 2.29 kg of plastic per person each year into the ocean while its ASEAN counterpart, the Philippines comes right at the top with 3.30kg per person each day that ends up in the ocean, followed by Surinam (2.89kg); Trinidad and Tobago (2.55kg) and Saint Lucia (2.45kg).
Meanwhile, the UK occupies the 92nd spot out of 138 countries that were profiled, with 0.01kg of plastic per person each year that ends up in the ocean.
On the other hand, many countries have started to export such waste, such as Slovenia and a summary of the survey observed that the dumping of plastic waste and rubbish into the sea was worrisome because it threatens marine life.
Hence, countries around the world are trying to address this problem, which is through stressing the importance of recycling in order to protect and sustain marine life.
