Metal finishers carry on polluting
By TAN CHENG LI
THEY are the sacred cows, the metal finishing industry which pollutes and yet avoids the long arm of the law. They are the "untouchables."
The industry exemplifies a dilemma often faced by developing countries where the authorities cannot afford to be too harsh on these factories, even the polluting ones, since they provide jobs, foreign exchange and development.
In some parts of the world, the industry has gained a reputation for causing pollution with cyanide, heavy metals, carcinogens and corrosives and other hazardous chemicals.
Yet in Malaysia, treatment of waste is almost unheard of within the industry which electroplates metal components to prevent corrosion or for ornamental coatings.
Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (Sirim) senior official Dr Mustaza Ahmadun said the problem of the industry being a major hazardous waste generator had been heavily debated since the 1970s.
"But not much has changed since, apart from the industry growing bigger and more industrial waste being discharged into streams and rivers," said Dr Mustaza, who heads the metal protection and finishing unit.
Department of Environment (DOE) environmental control officer Ismail Mahmood said the industry was noted for its "zero compliance" with environmental regulations.
He said many factories did not treat their waste while those which did failed to do so thoroughly and thus still contravened the Environmental Quality (Sewage and Industrial Effluents) Regulations 1979.
But only a few have been penalised. Six factories in Selangor and the Federal Territory were fined a total of RM9,100 last year.
No data was available from other states but department officials said there were fewer cases.
This had led to the industry being described as pampered but Dr Mustaza refrained from putting all the blame on the DOE.
"The authorities have to think twice about closing the electroplaters as this might cripple the whole industrialisation process, metal finishing being an important supportive industry.
"Closure is also not necessarily the best solution as operators will just relocate to another backyard."
The industry, comprising mainly small and medium-scale operators, claimed it is unable to afford waste treatment technology.
It is also hampered by limited skills and technical know-how. Many are backyard operators with little space in factory premises for treatment systems. Thus, the DOE has been sympathetic.
Representatives of the Malaysia Metal Finishing Society (MMFS) met Deputy Science, Technology and Environment Minister Peter Chin in 1991 to appeal their case and were assured a grace period of two years for the industry to solve its waste woes.
Other efforts by the DOE to help the industry, however, had not been exploited, according to minister Datuk Law Hieng Ding.
He said the industry had shown minimal interest in treatment plants designed by University Kebangsaan Malaysia and Sirim although these were made with the needs of the industry in mind —affordable and compact, to fit into cramp factory grounds.
The electroplaters, instead, spent time studying numerous other treatment systems, including one designed by the Yokohama Industrial Institute.
However, it has yet to select a design and this has prompted various quarters to hurl accusations that the industry’s considerations of various treatment systems was a ploy to delay putting up plants.
Society chairman Choong Kok Seng denied the allegation.
"We just want to choose a system that is cheap yet efficient," he said.
"Previously, the operators treated each other as competitors. They are now beginning to work together through the formation of the society.
"I have asked the DOE to give me two to three years to educate the industry and get their support and this is beginning to happen."
Choong’s efforts were now focused on garnering support for a DOE proposal that operators pool resources and share treatment facilities but there is little progress.
Although the idea was put forward over two years ago, so far only 10 operators had agreed to band together and be relocated to an Electroplating Technology Park which would be served by a common treatment plant.
However, a major hurdle remains. The companies — GE Sunny Dale, Chong Mah, Genlite, Panma, Power Electrobrite, Shui Woo, Guan Heng. Air Berseh, Continental Strategy and Chemicals Machinery —are still searching for suitable land.
And other complications can be expected, such as agreeing on a site, running of the plant and charges, and the Environmental Impact Assessment.
"I foresee that the common plant will not be up for a long time to come and the industry will just continue to pollute," said UKM chemical and process engineering department head Associate Prof Dr Rakmi Abdul Rahman.
She is among many who urged the DOE to stop entertaining further requests by the industry to delay setting up plants as there has been no improvement in its efforts to treat waste.
Dr Mustaza echoed her view: "No doubt metal finishing is an important industry, but one cannot give it such a long grace period.
"Being entrepreneurs, they will not spend anything as far as possible."
Protecting metal, but harming the environs
EVERYTHING and anything made of metal — furniture, gates and grilles, electrical and electronic parts and even costume jewellery — undergo the metal finishing process.
The industry’s main activity is to produce protective or decorative finishes on metal components.
Costume jewellery can be treated to like gold items while metal parts in cars and air-conditioners are electroplated to protect against corrosion.
Department of Environment records show 104 metal finishers in the country but the actual figure could easily be higher by another 100, as many are illegal backyard operators. Half are in the Kiang Valley, concentrated in Sungai Besi, Ampang, Kiang, Batu Caves, Shah Alam, Puchong, Kepong, Jinjang and Sungai Way.
In the metal finishing process, metal pieces are dipped into baths containing chemical solutions which will give the appropriate coating.
The pieces are then rinsed in several containers of flowing water, to remove residual plating or processing solutions.
As the solutions often comprise acids, alkalis, cyanides and various base metals such as chromium, nickel, zinc, iron and aluminium, the industry is a major source of hazardous waste.
It generates over 28 per cent of the annual 380,000 tonnes of hazardous industrial waste in the country.
This untreated or partially treated waste is being discharged into drains, causing the toxic substances to end up in water sources eventually.
Of the 104 factories recorded by the DOE last year, only 28 had treatment plants and all were found to be malfunctioning.
Waste water containing heavy metals is extremely dangerous because these are highly toxic, and may cause mutagenicity to human and other living things.
To make matters worse, some big electrical firms are subcontracting out metal finishing works to small operators to avoid problems of waste treatment and disposal.
There are, however, some multinationals which have in-house electroplating facilities but these are not classified under the metal-finishing sector.
Source : The Star, July 3 1993
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