PETALING JAYA: The waste produced by extracting rare earth metals from the ores need not go to waste after all, according to Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
The company said the waste also contains phosphates, which is a component of fertilizers and can therefore provide the agriculture sector an alternative supply of the nutrients essential for plants.
Environmental activists, led by Bentong MP Wong Tack and Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh, have been fighting for more than a decade to get the company to ship the waste produced by the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in Gebeng, Kuantan out of the country.
Prof Dr Ismail Bahari, the general manager in charge of radiation safety, regulations and compliance at Lynas, today said the residue, which is an iron phosphate, can be used as a fertilizer or soil conditioner.
He gave an assurance that it contains a very low level of radioactive material, equivalent to naturally occurring levels of radioactivity.
“Radioactivity levels in water leached purification residue (WLP) is comparable with those found in phosphate rock and phosphates used as fertilizers. These have been used repeatedly in agriculture since it was first discovered,“ he pointed out.
He also highlighted data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia showing that in 2018, the country imported 357,531 tonnes of fertilizers at a cost of US$27 million (RM114.9 million).
He added that if Lynas was permitted to converted its WLP residue into fertilizers, it could reduce the country’s dependence on imports. Lynas now holds an accumulated 450,000 tonnes of WLP.
