Before 2016, a boat could not travel for more than 500m along the Klang River before it got stalled, its motor stuck with plastic and other floating waste.

“Today, we can travel the entire length from Pangkalan Batu to Port Klang without stopping. This is a great indicator that most of the waste is being caught by our seven log booms and the Interceptor,” said Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd managing director Syaiful Azmen Nordin.

This would allow river taxi services to be deployed soon, he said, adding that river waste collected monthly from the Klang river had been successfully reduced by 40% since cleanup efforts started in 2016.

The Interceptor is a 100% solar powered machine, capable of extracting plastic autonomously along the surface of the river as it glides along the river.

However, according to a new study, more than 1, 000 rivers are accountable for 80% of plastic waste found in the ocean, with the Klang river listed as among the top contributors.

The environmental research released on April 30 on Science Advances estimated that more than 1, 000 rivers account for 80% of global annual emissions in plastic, ranging between 0.8 million and 2.7 million metric tonnes per year.

The study, which also found that small urban rivers are among those which are most polluting, put Klang River as the second highest riverine emitter of plastic into the ocean at 1.33%, tied with India's Uthas river and the Philippines' Tullahan river.

Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd, a corporation mandated by the Selangor state government, is tasked to clean and rejuvenate 56km of the Klang River - from the middle of Midvalley to the river mouth at Port Klang.

Syaiful said from 2016 to 2020, the Selangor Maritime Gateway extracted over 67, 000 metric tonnes of floating waste from the Klang river, including plastic, via trapping the floating waste into seven log booms constructed along its 56km length.

From 2016 till 2020, the company has extracted over 67,000 metric tonnes of floating waste from the Klang river, which also includes plastics.

Syaiful said in 2018, the Selangor government had ramped up works with the setting up of the Selangor Martime Gateway to bring together various state agencies under one roof and reduce the total waste volume at the Klang river by 30% by 2022 and 40% from 2023 onwards.

Since then, Selangor Martime Gateway's average monthly extraction of river waste has reduced to 900 metric tonnes from 1, 500 metric tonne previously, he said.

"The Klang River has been identified as a major contributor of waste and that is why the state government decided to focus its efforts here. As of today, we are already at 27%," he said.

Syaiful said in 2019, Selangor Martime Gateway partnered with a Dutch non-profit organization, The Ocean Cleanup, to place their Interceptor on the Klang River as part of its river waste management system.

In March this year, British band Coldplay said it would sponsor the second Interceptor, which would also be deployed on the Klang River soon.

Syaiful said most plastics found in the Klang River are domestic waste, which are from urban areas where people do not dispose their trash responsibly into bins.

He said there needs to be a major mindset shift among the people and industries, as well as stricter enforcement action by authorities and continuous official reminders to stop waste from entering the country's waterways.

"People are generally complacent until the water to their taps is cut off, then they blame the authorities.

"People and businesses need to start realising that they are the biggest contributors to our ongoing river pollution issues, and yet 90% of our water consumption comes from rivers," he said.

Reference Links -
[1] the Star
[2] Selangor Maritime Gateway