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Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment______________________________________Vol.15 (2) June (2011) Res.J.Chem.

Environ

Challenges of Solid Waste Management in Malaysia


Nadi Behzad *1, Rodzi Ahmad1, Pirasteh Saied, 1 Shamshiry Elmira2 and Mokhtar Mazlin Bin1
1. SNML, Institute of Advanced Technology (ITMA), University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM., Serdang, Selangor, MALAYSIA 2. Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI),Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia , 43600 UKM BANGI, Selangor, MALAYSIA *nadibehzad@gmail.com

Abstract Malaysia is faced with challenges with respect to the solid waste management sector because of the increase of population and tourism, economic growth for sustainable development and inadequate waste legislation enforcement, infrastructure and public attitude among residents. This paper gives an approach of the solid waste management in Malaysian with the aim of presenting the state of waste management practices and problems with regards to environmental, economic and other ramifications.
Key words: Solid waste management, , environmental and Malaysian

Introduction
The quality of the environment in many developing countries particularly in urban areas is rapidly deteriorating. Inadequate municipal solid waste management is certainly one of the major contributing factors to the degrading of environment quality (UNPDDESA, 2005). In general, to improve the solid waste management service in developing countries, there is the urgent need to modernize the solid waste management system through the application of the 3Rs (Badgie, 2010). This paper discusses the waste management system in Malaysian and the aim of presenting state of waste practices and challenges consider to environmental and economical subjects. Background: Malaysia is a tropical country in South East Asia with a land area of 329,847km. The country is separated into two regions (West and East Malaysia) by the South China Sea. West Malaysia is the Peninsular, which constitute 11 states while East Malaysia comprises two states of Sabah and Sarawak, which are situated on the Island of Borneo. Kuala Lumpur is the capital city while Putra Jaya is the seat of the federal government. Malaysia has a tropical climate which is generally warm and humid throughout the year with temperature ranging from 21 to 32C and a relative humidity of 80 to 90%. Rain usually occurs between November and February on the east of the Peninsular Malaysia, western Sarawak and north-eastern Sabah while on the west coast of the Peninsular, the rainy season occurs in April May and October November. The country is a multi-ethnic, racial and lingual society with a population of 26.6 million as of February 2007 comprising of 62% Malays, 24% Chinese and 8% Indians with other minorities and indigenous
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people (Dept of Statistics, 2005). It is endowed with natural resources in area such as agriculture, forestry and minerals. The economy is exclusive based on agricultural commodities and now is one of the worlds largest producer of rubber, tin, palm oil, timber among others. Currently, the government has aspired to diversify the economy to manufacturing and service based industries with the former emerging as one of the largest component of the countrys economy while of recent, tourism serve as a major source of revenue for the nation as well (Economic Planning Unit, 2006).The National Development Policy of the Second Outline Perspective Plan (1991-2000) categorically states adequate attention will be given to the protection of the environment and ecology so as to maintain the long term sustainability of the country development. Malaysias vision 2020 is that in the pursuit of economic development, she will ensure that her invaluable natural resources are not wasted. In line with the above, the Malaysian Government through the Department of Environment has formulated its vision, that is, to contribute towards nation building in attaining a better level of health, safety and quality of life through conservation and preservation efforts, prevention and control of pollution, and protection and promotion of wise use of natural resources towards sustainable development for present and future generations. Figure 1 shows a policy decisions for SWM at the decision makers level in consultation with the states. The council for SWM at federal level and the committee on solid waste management at state level can be the platform for consultative discussions between the various stakeholders to derive appropriate policies and strategies for implementation programme. Therefore the operational and implementation plans on waste collection shall be undertaken by concessionaires, while the local authorities have the responsibility for monitoring of performance and enforcements (MHLG, 2005). Solid wastes generation in Malaysia recently reached towards a crucial perspective especially in terms of the amount and composition. Annually, waste generation increased by 3% due to many causes such urban migration, affluence and rapid development (Agamuthu, 2001). Therefore early management of solid waste involved very little effort since the waste was generated at a manageable level and generally consists of organic materials such as food leftovers, paper, wood and others (Fauziah et al., 2007). As Malaysia is a developing country and also has similar problems such as proper technologies, man power, land scarcity and other facilities which are insufficient to cope with the ever increasing rate of waste generation

Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment______________________________________Vol.15 (2) June (2011) Res.J.Chem.Environ


Policy/ Funding Level

Policy/ Programme formulation

Project Implementation/Monitoring (SWM FACILITIES)

Operation Planning/ Implementation (waste collection)

Operation and maintenance

Source: (MHLG, 2005) Figure 1: Proposed Institution Arrangement for SWM especially. The focus is more for the controlling of volume compare to direct disposal into landfills (Mohd Armi et al., 2010). According to obtained statistic from MHLG and World Bank, 2003and 1999, with increasing population amount of solid waste generation is increasing too in Malaysia. Sustainable Development and Integrated Solid Waste Management in Malaysia: Integrated solid waste management (ISWM) can be defined as the selection and application of suitable techniques, technologies, and management programs to achieve specific waste management goals and objectives (Tchobanoglous et al., 1993 and NAdi.B.2009). The goal of sustainable solid waste management is the recovery of more valuable products from waste with the use of less energy and a more positive environmental impact (Bagchi, 2004). The ISWM hierarchy comprises of the following elements: sources reduction, recycling, waste combustion and land filling. This hierarchy is a useful conceptual tool for goal setting and planning at the national level, states and municipalities (EPA). ). Thus, solid waste management has evolved as the most challenging task and this problem is further compounded by the rapidly increasing amounts and complex nature of waste composition which results from the growth in urban population and changes in their consumption patterns. Generally, the greater the economic prosperity and the higher percentage of urbanization, the greater the amount of solid waste produced (Hassan, 2000). While developed countries are busy in developing and implementing waste-to-energy technologies associated with energy recovery, composting for waste avoidance, and recycling and reuse, developing countries are still struggling to decide on the best options to treat and dispose of waste. Thus waste characteristics provide essential data for planning waste disposal facilities and for formulation of waste management strategies (Mrayyan and Moshrik, 2006). Malaysias solid waste management challenges could be reasonably addressed by the adoption of the following waste management options (Badgie, 2010). Source reduction and reuse of Solid Waste Implement in Malaysia: It is important that we reduce the amount of garbage dumped in municipal landfills for a number of reasons: Landfills are increasingly short of space and construction of new landfill sites are vehemently opposed due to their undesirable nature. All items in a landfill are effectively lost to society and a waste of natural resources. Lastly, landfill produces vast amount of pollution, both methane to the atmosphere and leachates to the soil (DEFRA, 2009). Reducing the volume, toxicity of waste generated, including the switch to reusable products and packaging is often opposed by consumer society. The benefits of recycling are two-fold. Firstly, recycling cuts down the need for disposal capacity and lowers emission from landfills and incinerators as well as reduces litter. Secondly, the use of recycled materials in industrial reduces energy use and emission; lessens impact when raw material is extracted or manufactured and conserves raw materials (Agamuthu, 2001). Recycling also provides a supplementary income source for the lower income group. Some of the municipal managers are looking to the development of municipal incinerators around the periphery of their cities as a first solution in many countries (Chang et al., 2007). But using incinerator should be base on universal standards in Malaysia t sever raining and humidity effect on incinerator implementation. Usually, waste management authorities efforts are more concentrated on collection, transportation and open dumping. The need to develop ways and means in turning our waste into resources is crucial and worth consideration. Recycling, reuse and recovery of energy is essential as an integrated approach towards waste management (Salim, 2008, NAdi et al 2010).

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Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment______________________________________Vol.15 (2) June (2011) Res.J.Chem.Environ


not properly managed. These are extremely difficult and perhaps impossible to value in monetary perspective, however, they should be given consideration alongside the financial impacts in policy formulation and decision making (Hajkowicz, et al., 2005). Waste management strategies generally involve avoidance, reduce, re-use, recycling, composting and disposal (Hajkowicz, et al., 2005).The environmental impact will be reduced if more waste is avoided, reduced, re-used or recycled rather than disposed. Environmental impacts related to improper management of solid waste from Malaysia perspective will include inter alia: Damage or loss of biodiversity. Air, Water, Land and Noise pollution Loss of recreational amenity. Loss of aesthetics landscape and scenery. Explosion hazards An effective solid waste management system is very necessary to avoid environmental and health related impacts which invariably will lead to undesirable consequences for the countrys citizenry and the ecosystem in general. Malaysian population has been increasing at a rate of 2.4% or 600,000 on yearly basis and this has a corresponding increase of waste generation of 1.7kg/person/day in big cities as well which makes the municipal solid waste management very pertinent (Kathirvale, et al., 2003). Consequently these increases in waste generation invariably increases the cost of managing the waste by the municipalities concern and the government in that local government authorities spend on average 50% of their operating budget on municipal solid waste management (Latifah, et al., 2008). Furthermore, it will lead to the acquisition of necessary equipment, infrastructure, institutional and capacity building to accommodate the situation which is very expensive. In that situation, local government authorities are in most cases incapable of responding to these demands since the necessary resources to implement adequate solid waste management system are generally underestimated. The absence of these consequently leads to inadequate waste management with far reaching ramification to both public health and the environment among others (Badgie, 2010, Nadi et al2010).

Role of integrated waste management and environment Integrated solid waste management and its role on environment: In order to get environmental sustainability, the implementation of integrated solid waste management with regards to the environment needs to correlate each other. The approach between economic and technology is very important because a country with good economy can afford to acquire state of the art technologies to make the process of waste management more efficient thus reducing pollution and environmental degradation. Furthermore, decision making process as well plays a pivotal role in ISWM since decision makers decides on the appropriate technologies in addressing waste management issues. These arrays of considerations prior to any undertaking must get opinion from stakeholders with respect to public health, social and cultural dimension from the community to ensure the new technology is appropriate and there will be no potential future problems with regards to public health and the environment.

Assessment of the waste management criteria: In assessing the waste management criteria, community considers all types of municipal solid waste management option available and chooses the one most appropriate. There are many factors that can influence the selection process on the criteria such as waste generation and waste composition and both of these factors are major players in determining for planning waste management. Thus community can assess the management options such as source reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, combustion, incineration, energy recovery, land filling that reflect the needs and goals of the community. The criterion for assessment of management options includes: Despite not expressed in monetary terms there are many important non-financial impacts of solid waste when

Criteria For Assessment Cost 1. Cost-effectiveness Potential to divert waste from disposal 2. Potential risks Technical capabilities 3. Ability to fund Ability to maintain local control Potential of options as a regional 4. 4. opportunity Compatibility of the option with the current Level of change to the existing system 5. 5. system required 6. Flexibility 6. Public acceptance Source: Adapted from (Sasikumar and Krishna, 2009) 1. 2. 3.
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Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment______________________________________Vol.15 (2) June (2011) Res.J.Chem.Environ


Current solid waste management in Malaysia is a challenge that must be planned, handled properly and orderly. Strategies to control the generation of solid waste are among the best and appropriate way. Control over the production of solid waste can help reduce solid waste being sent to landfills. In Malaysia implementation management of solid waste should consider to the peoples attitude towards waste generation in Malaysia as the countrys socio-economy growth and affluence is inversely proportional to the public awareness on environmental issues particularly with regards to solid waste. In Malaysia solid waste analysis and data for major town basically have not been well documented (MHLG, 2005).

4. Nadi, B., Mahmud, A. R., Ahmad, N., Shariff, A. R., Arvinpil, A., & Hosseinzadeh, S. a. (2009). Application Geospatial Technology in Disaster Management. Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering, 4, 65-70. 5. Nadi, B., Mahmud, A. R., Ahmad, N., Farjad, B., Arvinpil, b., Amani, A., et al. (2010). Managing of Urban Solid Waste by Geoinformatics Technology. International Geoinformatics Research and Development Journal, 1(1), 70-80. 6. Nadi, B., & Shamshiry, E., & Rodzi, A. (2011). Response Surfaces Model For Optimization of Solid Waste Management. International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications (IJCEA); ISSN: 2010-0221. Vol.2, No.1.2011 7. Nadi, B., Mahmud, A. R.,(2010). Geospatial Modeling for Urban Solid Waste Management. ISBN 978- 3-639-28392-1. VDM Verlag Dr. Mller GmbH & Co. Germany. 8. Shamshiry,E., Nadi,B., Mokhtar ,M., Komoo,I., and Hashim,H., (2011). Urban solid waste management based ongeoinformatics technology. Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology Vol. 3(1), January 2011.ISSN 2141-2316 2010 Academic Journals 9. Hassan, M. N. 2000. Policies to improve solid waste management in developing countries: Some insights in Southeast Asian Countries. Proceedings of the second international conference on solid waste management : Perspective of the twenty first centuries, March 22-25, Taipei, Taiwan and Roc. 10. Latifah, A.M., Mohd, Armi Abu Samah, Nur Ilyana Mohd Zukki (2009). Municipal solid waste management in Malaysia. Practices and Challenges. Waste Management. (29):2902-2906. 11. MHLG.2003. Annual report, section 4- local government, Kuala Lumpur. Technical Section of the Local Government Division. 12. Mohd, Armi Abu Samah., Latifah Abd Manaf., Kang Wee Siang., Mohamad Pauzi Zakaria and Wan Nor Azmin Sulaiman. 2010. Municipal solid waste composition: past, present and future trends of Malaysia environment. International Symposium and Exhibition on Geotechnical and Geosynthetics Engineering: Challenges and Opportunity on Climate Change 7-8 December Bangkok, Thailand. pp 407- 411. 13. Salim, R. 2008. Towards waste management challenges after 50 years independence. (On line) http://web.utm.my/today/ (4 February, 2008).

Conclusion
In Malaysia and any countries whenever reach to sustainable development that the decisions related to solid waste management should be table out to the public from grass root level which signifies the participation of all concern. This approach will involves the people at all levels and further serve as educational forum for the public there by taking informed decision in relation to waste management as well serve as learning opportunity on all issues related to solid waste and its implications if improperly managed. By all account, Malaysias solid waste management strategies have to certain degree improved on the environmental quality, public health and socioeconomic development as detailed in the countrys Vision 2020. This is mainly attributed to growing interest of the government on environmental issues particularly solid waste, and therefore given the necessary attention it deserves in the management mechanism for a clean and healthy nation.

References
1. Badgie, D. (2010) Solid waste management system in the Kanifing Municipal Council Area of Jurisdiction, The Gambia. MSc. thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). 2. Bagchi, A. 2004. Design of landfills and integrated solid waste management, Third Edition. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 3. Nadi B.,Ahmad ,R. ,A sharif,A noordin (2009)Use of geospatial technology for landfill site selection. Journal of Environment and engineering. 3 (9) USA.

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