SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN MALAYSIA

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Solid waste can be defined as the useless and unwanted products in the solid state
derived from the activities of and discarded by society. Solid waste is one of the three
major environmental problems in Malaysia. It plays a significant role in the ability of
nature to sustain life within its capacity. Currently, over 23,000 tonnes of waste is
produced each day in Malaysia. However, this amount is expected to rise to 30,000
tonnes by the year 2020.According to Global Environment Center,the amount of waste
generated continues to increase due to the increasing population and development, and
only less than 5% of the waste is being recycled.Despite the massive amount and
complexity of waste produced, the standards of waste management in Malaysia are still
poor. These include outdated and poor documentation of waste generation rates and its
composition, inefficient storage and collection systems, disposal of municipal wastes
with toxic and hazardous waste, indiscriminate disposal or dumping of wastes and
inefficient utilization of disposal site space (Hamatschek, E).
Recycle are one of the method or procedure in solid waste management applied in
Malaysia.It includes using a waste material for another purpose, treating and reusing it in
the same process. Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction and is the
third component of the "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" waste hierarchy.Recycling is a
series of activities that includes the collection of used, reused, or unused items that
would otherwise be considered waste such as sorting and processing the recyclable
products into raw materials and remanufacturing the recycled raw materials into new
products. Consumers provide the last link in recycling by purchasing products made
from recycled content. Recycling also can include composting of food scraps, yard
trimmings, and other organic materials. Recycling prevents the emission of many
greenhouse gases and water pollutants, saves energy, supplies valuable raw materials
to industry, creates jobs, stimulates the development of greener technologies, conserves
resources for our children's future, and reduces the need for new landfills and
combustors.

2.0 THE REASONS OF THE FAILURE OF THE RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY IN

MALAYSIA
Recycling includes the reuse or recovery of in-process materials or materials generated
as by-products that can be processed further on. It also improve production efficiency,
profits, good neighbor image, product quality and environmental performance.At the
moment there is no organised programme for recycling in Malaysia. Efforts are made to
come up with their own programme and objective with a single recycling programme with
both short-term and long-term perspectives. The short-term measures will mobilise the
stakeholders towards active recyclable generators and enhance their participation
whereas long-term measures will aim towards an increased diversion of waste for
recycling, and a collection system.
Awareness among the public was high but only few were practicing.Recycling
facilities were insufficient and inappropriately located. The available facilities were
recycling bins, recycling centers, silver boxes, centers, recycling lorry and mobile
collection unit (van) and charity recycling boxes. Improvement in recycling practices was
possible by bringing awareness, but the task involves huge cost.
Moreover, the awareness of public on 3Rs is low, in spite of the Malaysian
governments funding for public information campaigns. There is a lack of policy to
promote 3Rs and allow public participation. In 1988, the Action Plan for a Beautiful and
Clean (ABC) Malaysia was introduced but had only minimal responses from the general
public (Hassan et al 2000).
Other consequences include no comprehensive planning,no policy,low participation
from the public,poor networking of collection system,high transportation cost in East
Malaysia in bringing recyclables to Peninsular,inadequate technology in Malaysia,price
of recyclables fluctuate and affect the public behaviour in recycling and no proper
reporting system and evaluation system on the rate of recycling.

3.0 IMPROVEMENT ON RECYCLING IN MALAYSIA BASED ON OTHER COUNTRY

OR REGION
As stated by Izan Jaafar,Malaysia will achieve its vision of 2020 as a country that
continues to develop at rapid speed. One of the major problems that our country will
have to eventually face is disposing with the mounting solid wastes. As stated in
Sustainable Solid Waste Management in the 9th Malaysia, priority will be the reduction,
reuse and recycling of waste as well as greater use of environmental-friendly materials.
Legislation to streamline solid waste management will be enacted to facilitate the
implementation of the strategies and measures in National Strategic Plan.
According to Agamuthu.P,the ever increasing per capita waste generation gave rise
to a doubt on whether disposal is a sustainable solution and hence an alternative
thinking based on the principles of waste hierarchy 3R, became more popular as a policy
goal. As a policy objective, the waste minimization goal requires socialization of the 3R
idea on a larger scale and this urged the government to focus on waste hierarchy.
Information campaigns were staged to promote 3R aiming to increase awareness and to
change attitude and behaviour. Malaysia prefers a State-led approach to waste
management. Waste minimization usually requires knowledge about the production
process, cradle-to-grave analysis and detailed knowledge of the composition of the
waste. The two effective ways for waste minimization are through firm's production
system and technical changes and through a regulatory system that may finance the
modification of internal organization.
In Malaysia, waste minimization programs cannot be carried out effectively without a
reliable data on waste composition and generation (Hassan et al. 2000). The amount of
Malaysian solid waste being separated at source for recycling purposes was less than
2% in the year 1992 but the senior government officials believe that the actual rate could
be as high as 15%. The National Recycling Program was initiated in 2000 and in
2005,Malaysia released the National Strategic Plan for Solid Waste Management (20002020) and waste minimization is recognized as one of the priorities.
One of the improvement that can be made are by applying the standards or
policies.Standards play an important role for industry development. Standards are critical
for international trade because incongruent standards can be barriers to trade, giving
some organizations advantages in certain areas of the world. Standards provide clear
identifiable references that are recognized internationally and encourage fair competition

in free-market economies. Standards facilitate trade through enhanced product quality

and reliability, greater interoperability and compatibility, greater ease of maintenance and
reduced costs. As for the waste recycling industry, availability of standards is important
to ensure sustainability of the industry and minimizing impacts to the environment and
human health.The need for good waste recycling scheme requires a system which
includes effective management regime. In addition, there should also an assessment
and monitoring program or system in place to ensure the sustainability of the waste
recycling industry. Therefore standards play an important role. Many countries have
developed or have established their own waste recycling standards. The standards are
developed according to the needs of its local industries and of other countries. As the
demand for recyclable materials increases, these standards are reviewed to ensure
ability of these materials to be exported or imported. Most of the waste recycling
standards available have been developed by developed countries.
One of the main regions which developed early its standards for waste recycling is
the European Union (EU) countries. EU has established its environment policy which
has evolved significantly since the 1970s. This policy provides the EU countries a
cleaner air and water, and a better understanding of the importance of a healthy
environment. It is one of the policy areas that is most supported by EU citizens, who
recognise that environmental problems go beyond national and regional borders and can
only be resolved through concerted action at EU and international level (European
Commission, 2005). One of the critical environmental issues in Europe has been waste.
Increasing problem in managing waste by its member countries, drove them to
undertake national measures to control and manage waste efficiently. This led to the
creation of the Waste Framework Directive (75/442/EEC), and the Hazardous Waste
Directive (91/689/EEC) both adopted in 1975, and later to the Waste Shipment
Regulation. The Waste Framework Directive establishes a framework for the
management of waste across the European Community.The improvement also
prioritized waste recycling, re-use and energy recovery over the disposal of waste. EU
legal framework for waste management has been strengthened to ensure recycling of
waste. This includes the EUEuropean Council Regulation (EEC 880/92), Directive of
Packaging and Packaging Waste (94/62/EC), and the Waste Framework Directive (WFD
75/442/EEC) of 1975 (revised in 1991 and codified in 2006).
In Japan,home appliance recycling technologies in focus on the effective utilization
of resources and the safe treatment of hazardous material, and methods and operations

becoming more and more sophisticated. Japan has many outstanding recycling
achievements and many recycling facilities are operating stably. The prevailing method
of handling used home appliances in the past was to first break them apart with a simple
machine and then sort out the recyclable parts using magnets. Today, recycling has
become more sophisticated. To improve the purity of recovered resources, appliances
are first taken apart and sorted manually, then compacted. The operation is efficient in
that not only metallic material but also plastic parts are recovered for recycling.

4.0 APPLICATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF RECYCLING IN MALAYSIA

The lowest hierarchy in product recovery is recycling. Implementation of recycle
campaign is a way to reduce waste disposal problem. Recycling is cheaper and more
environmentally friendly alternative than seeking new landfill site, and capable to extend
the lifespan of the existing landfill. Besides, the program is more economical by
substituting raw materials with used materials, conserves energy, and creates jobs. To
ensure the successful of recycling, people must know how to recycle and be motivated
to recycle. The procedures also must be convenient, inexpensive, and with less barriers.
Malaysia should apply the Japanese technology in recycling of waste products.
Under the 3R policy (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), Japan has been collecting PET bottles,
food trays, and cans separately for reuse as recycle resources in the manufacturing of
new products. PET bottles are collected in accordance with the Act on the Promotion of
Sorted Collection and Recycling Containers and Packaging, and they are used to make
a variety of textile products and so on. Relatively high-grade PET bottles are collected
and remade into PET bottles or carpets with the high technology possessed by
Japan.The collected bottles are cleaned, and caps and labels taken off to improve their
quality. The bottles are then compressed, bound and passed on to reproduction
contractors(Sakurai,K).
Recycled resin from PET bottle waste is used to make material for civil engineering
and inner cotton for bedding. It was thought that making long fiber or resin product that
will not decolorize would be difficult to achieve. One Japanese company began recycling
and reproducing PET bottles in China, Thailand and Taiwan. There are cases of recycled
material being colored at the resin stage and made into high quality carpets using high
level sewing skill.
Japan passed the Law for the Promotion of Sorted Collection and Recycling
Containers and Packaging in 1995, driving municipalities to collect recyclable resources.
With it, Japan has structured a sophisticated recycling system. Waste PET bottles
contain foreign material and substances which only allowed reproduction into low quality
products.However, today's recycling technology developed sophisticated methods for
foreign matter removal and recycling, bringing out high added value products. Some
municipalities set up a subsidy system for neighborhoods that voluntarily collect
recyclable waste, thereby promoting the PET bottle collection and recycling of waste.

5.0 CONCLUSION
Recycling is important due to the fact that it reduce waste materials that we use
everyday and to be able to produce new materials through it without having to send it to
the landfills or to the dump sites. We might not notice it but when we recycle there will be
less rubbish or trash to dispose of and recycling create a good job than waste
disposals.The Government of Malaysia is determined to provide sustainable recycling
system in the country.The success of recycling lies on every single one of us.
6.0 REFERENCES
Agamuthu, P. (2001) Solid waste: principles and management with Malaysian case
studies. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press.
European Commission, 2005. The Story Behind the Strategy: EU Waste Policy.
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/story_book.pdf accessed 19th February
2010.
Hamatschek, E. 2010. Current Practice of Municipal Solid Waste Management in
Malaysia and the Potential for Waste-to-Energy Implementation. In ISWA World
Congress 2010. Hamburg.
L. A. Manaf, et al. Municipal solid waste management in Malaysia: Practices and
challenges. Waste Management. 2009. vol. 29(11): pp. 2902-2906.
Sakurai, K. (1990). Improvement of solid waste management in developing countries.
Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Z. Sakawi. Municipal solid waste management in Malaysia: Solution for sustainable
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