We’re Nasty AF: Waste Audit Collects Over 17,000 Cigarette Butts at Port Dickson Beach

By Danial Martinus  •  24 Sep 2024 in News

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It goes without saying, we should treat the environment with care. After all, there’s only one Earth, so we might as well make the best use of it while we’re still here.

But naturally, some people don’t give a rat’s ass and treat their surroundings like their personal rubbish bin. This was clearly evident at a recent waste audit in Port Dickson.

More butts than you’d care to count

The waste audit, which took place during a World Clean Up Day 2024 programme at Saujana Beach, collected a staggering 17,160 cigarette butts last Saturday (21 September).

The programme saw 200 volunteers, consisting of students, NGOs, and private companies, toil away at Saujana Beach, cleaning up whatever waste they could get their hands on. While cigarette butts made the largest single group of waste collected at the beach, other (equally harmful) things were also collected during the cleanup.

Among them were 7,392 pieces of plastic and polystyrene, as well as 1,094 plastic bags.

According to Mohd Norlisam Mohd Nordin, Corporate General Manager of SWM Environment Sdn Bhd, the waste audit was held to obtain important information about the types of waste produced by visitors. He stressed that small pieces of waste are especially dangerous.

“Unbeknownst to us, this small waste, although seemingly trivial, can cause irreversible damage to marine life,” he said.

A similar audit last year recorded 10,651 cigarette butts, along with 636 food utensils (plastic spoons and forks) and 592 plastic bags.

Mohd Norlisam added that a total of 203 plastic bottle caps and 178 plastic drink bottles were also found, posing as the greatest danger to marine life. Waste material like this takes hundreds of years to decompose and is often eaten by marine animals mistaking them for food.

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