Solid Waste Management in Malaysia

Surname 1
Name
Professor
Institution
Course
Introduction
The production of waste in Malaysia has augmented significantly. Organic materials are a
major portion of solid waste that is produced in the country. As a consequence of positive
population growth and emission of waste, the land area will be more demanding and this will
lead to the increased cost of the management of solid waste. Waste separation and organic
composition can make up a good solution for the reduction of waste disposal. Public awareness
is important in efforts to improve solid waste disposal. Malaysia is a tropical country covering

Surname 2
329,843km2 (Noor, Yusuf, & Abba, 2015, p. 54).The population of Malaysia by 2012 was
approximately 28 million and 80% of the population was living in Peninsula Malaysia while
20% of the total population resides in the Eastern part of the country (Noor, Yusuf, & Abba,
2015, p. 55). The daily municipal waste generation stands at 330,000 tons and this precedes the
projected generation. As a result of the latter, the country dispossesses a total of 28,000 tons a
day in the landfills. There is, therefore, need for vital landfills that are sustainable so as to avoid
unwanted effects on human health.
The Ministry of construction has reported that the government has so far built 290
landfills and that 175 of them are still operational while 115 have been closed down as a result of
insufficient space. The landfills then operate the environment at different degrees such as air
pollution, water pollution, and sanitary challenges (Manaf , Samah, & Zukki, 2017, p. 56).
Research shows that 50% of the generated waste is organic. Organic waste disposal is likely
going to cause the anaerobic process to the environment, production of ethane and gas and all
this would occur during the process of anaerobic digestion.
In the last 10 years, the management of municipal solid waste has been a challenge in the
advancement plans all over the world. Malaysia is a good example of the few successful
countries in this transition. The country is facing rapid industrialization and urbanization and this
has resulted in adverse effects in the environment. Rapid industrialization has made Malaysia
change its characteristics in management of waste. The solid waste has also been increased by
the demand for improved quality of lifestyles (Fauziah & Simon, 2017, p. 23). The main
objective of solid waste controlling is to lessen the quantity of waste that is created and
consequently reduce the effects to the environment. The solid waste management that is

Surname 3
practiced in the LDCs comes along with several adverse effects including low collection
coverage, crude open dumping, and burning.
In the last decade, the creation of MSW amplified to more than 90%. In 2002, estimates
show that 5.5 million tons of waste was produced while in capital cities the quantity amounted to
1.7kg per capita per day (Tan , Ho , & Hashim, 2016). The main point of waste generation is the
main cities which contribute more than 65% of the total population. In the Kuala Lumpur, there
is a high rate of waste generation which comes as a result of uncontainable consumption due to
the huge population and attitudes towards expenditure and high living standards. Plastics, papers,
and foods are the major gears of the solid waste in Malaysia whereby they cover about 80% of
the total waste. The most obvious change in the composition of waste is the increase in the
volume of plastics and paper (Kathirvale & Yunus, 2015, p. 45). Waste composition is also
influenced by other factors like the geographical location, weather and the standards of living.
Characteristics of MSW Generation
In the meantime, poor management is a major challenge in Malaysia. In all aspects of
solid waste administration, the important feature that should be considered is the characteristic of
the waste that is generated.in describing the characteristics of the waste generated, we should
consider the solid waste stream, composition and the types of waste produced (Johari, Ahmed, &
Hashim, 2017).
Public Awareness
The way in which human beings respond to waste management is greatly influenced by
their level of education. Public education is, therefore, an important factor as far as waste
management is concerned. Environmental awareness in Malaysia is not adequate. The
government of Malaysia has introduced a recycling campaign in the last 10 years. However, the

Surname 4
campaigns have not been yielding so many fruits. Professionalism in solid waste management in
Malaysia is also so weak and not adequately represented (Kadir & Yin, 2014, p. 54). There is a
need to improve skills among practitioners in human waste management. The country is not in a
position to hire professionals in waste management plan since the personnel required is not
adequate. Lack of adequate skilled personnel in recent years has led to poor management of
facilities in the country.
The Ongoing Waste Management Process
Most cities in South East Asia are not able to exercise improved waste supervision due to
the shortcomings of several matters including technical and established facts and public
contribution (Mohamed & Lee, 2014, p. 54). Residential waste produces only 30% of the total
waste but the planners give so much weight to this type of waste and therefore forget the other
sources of waste such as industries and institutional wastes.
The primary challenge in MSW management in the developing countries is disposal
through the traditional filling of land. Landfilling fee is relatively low and there are also
difficulties in the circulation and attraction in landfills (Fauziah & Simon, 2017, p. 52). Malaysia
prefers to do waste management through the use of the landfill process. Most of the dumping
sites in the country are an open area. Open dumping is the most preferred proves since it is the
cheapest method and most common method of treating solid waste that possesses a high
percentage of solid waste that has large amounts of the organic component (Manaf , Samah, &
Zukki, 2017, p. 132). Open dumping gives the environment severe impacts such as
contamination of surface and underground water, contamination of soil through direct contact
with waste, bad smell in the dumping sites and the uncontrolled emission of methane by the
decomposing solid waste. The practice of landfilling by a large extends affects the river water to