By MANMEET KAUR 

LOOK into your trash bin. What have you got in there? Have you have been recycling religiously, sending all your paper, plastics, metals and glass to the recycling centre? If you haven’t why not go a bit further with your green efforts and start recycling?

Old Story, Growing Problem

According to the Global Environment Centre Foundation (GEC), solid waste is one of the three major environmental problems in Malaysia.

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.

For decades, this by-product of urbanisation had been tipped into 289 dumpsites around the country.

Unfortunately, time is running out for local governments. Waste management experts forecast that over 80% of dumpsites in the country will be filled to the brim in less than two years.


The sight at a Malaysian landfill.

Management Strategy

For the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (PPSPPA), the agency has initiated several measures to overcome the shortage of garbage dumpsites and existence of illegal dumps in the country.

Chief Executive Officer of PPSPPA Datuk Zaini Md Nor said that measures taken include the implementation of solid waste management strategy based on ‘waste hierarchy’ to reduce the volume of garbage sent to disposal sites, as practised in many developed nations.

The directive lays down a five-step waste management option with waste prevention as the preferred option, followed by reusing, recycling, recovery and safe disposal, as a last resort.

Towards a Green and Clean Malaysia

A nationwide recycling campaign was launched in 2000 to raise public awareness on the importance of reducing the amount of waste generated, reusing waste where possible and recycling what cannot be reused.

Through its recycling or Kitar Semula programme, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government has placed more than 1000 recycling bins and established 65 centres all over the country. The bins can be found in public places like schools, petrol stations and shopping malls.

But the question here is how many people actually go through this little inconvenience when it is so much easier to chuck the recyclable materials into the garbage bin or let the cashier bag the purchases?

According to Ravindran Raman Kutty, senior corporate communications manager at Alam Flora, about 30% of the solid waste generated by households can be recycled, but only 5% is being recycled.

Carrot or Stick?

As such, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government is actually planning to introduce legislation to make recycling mandatory.

“Right now there is no mechanism for segregating at source, so everything goes into the landfills,” said Dr Nadzri Yahaya, director general of the National Solid Waste Management Department under the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

“But once the regulation is enforced, it will be much easier for people to start recycling and for us to determine what goes into the landfills and what is sent for recycling.

The Solid Waste Management Bill, which requires the public to recycle solid waste, is undergoing some final changes at the Attorney-General’s Chambers before it is tabled in the Dewan Rakyat.

“In some parts of the US and Europe, if you don't recycle your recyclable waste, your garbage will not be collected. Elsewhere, households have to pay per bag of waste generated. Such tariffs force them to reconsider how much they are throwing out," said Jamal Othman, an associate professor at the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

“Thus, in the long term, people learn to minimise waste. They begin to buy products with recyclable materials, and manufacturers will have to change the way they make the products as well.”


The recycling bins placed under the Kitar Semula programme.

Importance of Education

Meanwhile, waste management specialist Dr Theng Lee Chong, who has dedicated his life to studying ‘garbage’, believes the best solution to waste management lies in educating the public on the importance of recycling.

“Waste can be generated anywhere at any time. At least 50% of waste in a household is leftover food and kitchen waste while the rest is plastic and paper,” he explained.

“Our garbage is our own responsibility and the only way we can ever achieve a higher level of awareness is through education.”