COMMENT | Malaysia battles to avoid waste knot’s chokehold

COMMENT | The disposal of Malaysia’s waste - domestic and imported - is an increasing concern.

Malaysia’s household waste generation is trending upwards, from 36,500 tonnes per day in 2015 to 38,150 tonnes in 2018, while estimated waste generation is 1.17kg per capita per day, 65 percent of which is household solid waste.

This is significantly higher than the average worldwide of 0.74kg. By category, Malaysia wastes approximately 16,720 tonnes of food daily - 44 percent of its total waste.

Apart from this, the country faces increasing challenges in managing imported waste coming in under the pretext of “recycling”.

In 2021, Malaysia imported more than 500 thousand tonnes of plastic waste and exported around 11 thousand tonnes, making the country one of the major importers of plastic waste globally.

The rise was a result of...