MINISTER SPEECH - WASTE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 2012

Puan Halimah Hassan

Director General, Dept of Environment
Encik Abd Aziz b. Long
President of ENSEARCH
Mr. K.N. Gobinathan
Chairperson of WM2012
Encik Habib Husin
Chief Operating Officer Malakoff Corporation Berhad
Encik Zamri Abdul Rahman
General Manager, Worldwide Landfill Sdn Bhd
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning and Salam 1 Malaysia,
1.

I am indeed honoured to be here this morning to officiate at ENSEARCHs 10 th Waste

Management Conference & Exhibition with the theme of Wastes to Opportunities. I

congratulate ENSEARCH in collaboration with Malaysian Society of Waste Management &
Environment for organizing this important conference and would like to thank them for giving
me the opportunity to be part of this useful and beneficial event.
Distinguished guests, Ladies & Gentlemen,
2.

Those of you who were here for the first day of this event should already be aware of the

impact of energy needs on the environment and the role that waste management needs to
play in both addressing the potential of generating usable energy from waste as well as the
need to manage the wastes from energy generation. You would also be aware of the urgent
need to upgrade and modernize our wastewater management systems in order to recover
potential sources of energy and other resources of value. Todays programme will cover
Municipal Solid and Hazardous Waste and explore the link between waste management and
climate change in Malaysia
3.

In 2012, it is estimated that Peninsular Malaysia alone generated 25,000 metric tons of

municipal solid waste daily. The bulk of this is food (48%), paper (15%), plastic (14%) followed by
glass, metals and other wastes. Regrettably, the primary means of disposing of this waste
remains through the system of landfills in the country. A total of 165 landfills remain open and

operating in Malaysia. Of these, eight are classified as sanitary landfills, with another 11 sanitary
landfills at various stages of construction. A further 131 landfills are closed and no longer
receiving waste for disposal. Besides these, at present, we have a single Refuse Derived Fuel
plant, and 4 thermal waste treatment plants; on Langkawi, Tioman and Pangkor Islands and in
the Cameron Highlands.
4.

In terms of priority, the preference hierarchy remains clear. Avoidance, reduction, and

reuse remain the most preferred options; recovery and treatment are next, with disposal and
landfilling being the least preferred options. These options have proven effective in case studies
around the world, and are an integral part of our current waste management policy moving
forward. Our target is both ambitious and clear. By 2020, we aim to reduce the amount of
landfilled waste by 40% and waste-related greenhouse gases by 38%.
5.

In terms of scheduled wastes, Malaysia generated a total of almost 3.3 million, metric tons

in 2011. This represents an increase of 6.3% compared to 3 million metric tons generated the
previous year. In 2011, the primary scheduled wastes were dross/slag/clinker/ash, gypsum,
mineral sludge, heavy metal sludge and e-waste.
6.

Of the total scheduled wastes produced in 2011, 1.6 million metric tons (50.57%) were

managed under special management approval as stipulated under Regulation 7,

Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations, 2005. This represents an increase of
38% as compared to 1.2 million metric tons in 2010. These wastes are mostly from power stations
and drinking water treatment plants.
7.

Of the remaining scheduled wastes, almost a million metric tons or slightly more than 28%

were recovered for re-use; most of which was recovered locally. Only a small faction (0.06%)
was exported for recovery in other countries according to Basel Convention procedures.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
8.

One of the new stream added to the wastes stream today, are the end-of-life electrical

and electronic goods (EEE) and e-wastes (WEEE). These wastes are relatively recent addition
to the wastes stream which is attracting increasing attention globally as the quantity generated
is rising rapidly.
9.

E-wastes management is a concern not only because of the tremendous increase in its

quantity but also because it has grown in increasing complexity. E-wastes contain a lot of toxic
ingredients such as lead, beryllium, mercury, cadmium and brominated flame retardants.
These are highly hazardous substances which may pose both occupational and environmental
health threats.
10.

E-wastes can also be another source of raw material if it can be efficiently recovered

through environmentally sound manner. Recycling of e-waste also contributes to the reduction

of greenhouse gases because significantly less energy is used when compared with primary
mining.
11. Thus, electrical and electronic products need to be managed throughout their lifecycle.
Therefore, involvement of manufacturers and importers in in implementing Extended Producer
Responsibility (EPR) is important. Extended Producer Responsibility means that producers bear
a certain degree of responsibility for proper recycling and management of the products that
they produced even after the products are used and disposed of".
12.

In this regard, there is a need to develop capacity to manage recovery efforts in a

sustainable manner. Technologies are evolving rapidly in terms of products, waste streams, and
recovery processes. We also need to develop schemes on the collection and segregation of
e-waste, including take-back schemes, the initiation of pilot repair, refurbishment and recycling
schemes.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
13.

In Malaysia, the quantity of e-waste generated from the industrial sector in 2009 was

134,000 metric tonne, covering 7.86% of total waste generated. While in 2010, the e-waste
generation increased by 17.9% to 163,000 metric tonne, covering 8.68% of total waste
generated.
14.

With the amendment of the Scheduled Waste Regulation in 2005, Malaysia has so far

managed to handle the e-waste generated from the industrial sectors in an environmentally
sound manner. However, we are still working on the management of household e-waste as it
requires an effective and efficient collection system. Based on the report from The E-Waste
Inventory Project in Malaysia in 2008 funded by Ministry of Environment Japan, the amount of
e-waste generated from household, business entities and institutions sector, in 2006 was 653,000
tons, in 2007 was 695,000 tons and in 2008 it was 688,000 tons. On average, Malaysia generated
about

700,000 tons of e-waste from household, business entities and institutions sector.

Therefore, there is a need for proper collection, segregation and recycling of e-waste system
to be established in order to manage the wastes in an environmentally sound manner.
16.

To assist DOE in formulating the way forward for household e-waste, a pilot project is being

carried out in one of the states under JICA funding. This E-waste pilot project is aimed at
developing an appropriate, effective e-waste collection system from households. The pilot
project is expected to be used as a model for expanding to the nationwide collection system.
In the Pilot Project, e-waste from household will be collected by appliances shops, mobile
phone shops and hypermarket chains and send to participating e-waste recyclers for
recycling. Data collected from this project will be used for nationwide model collection system
and policy development by the Department of Environment.

Distinguished guests, Ladies & Gentlemen,

18.

Malaysia is well on its way to achieving the indicator that was announced by our Prime

Minister, YAB Dato Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak in 2009 at the 15 th COP of UNFCCC in
Copenhagen. Malaysias effort to reduce its carbon emissions intensity of GDP by up to 40% of
its 2005 levels by year 2020 has already made important headway. It is interesting to note that
one of the major contributors to the reduction is in the area of waste management, for
example harnessing palm oil waste to generate electricity.
19. Malaysia is also currently developing a National Carbon Disclosure Programme. Under this
programme, corporate and government agencies will be encouraged to measure and report
their carbon emissions. This programme is envisioned to be implemented on a voluntary basis
at the outset to enable corporations to build the necessary capacity and to put the needed
institutions and frameworks into place. This programme is envisioned to be trans-sectoral and
the active involvement of entities in the waste management sector will be very much
welcome.
20.

While Climate Change is currently addressed under several different policies in a number

of different government ministries, this issue is part of the broader ambit of Sustainable
Development. Therefore, the issue of sustainable development has to be addressed in parallel
with waste management. Present efforts such as the zero burn technique, biogas trapping, and
the reduction of waste discharge in the rubber industry are a testament to this linkage and the
co-benefits that are achieved. ENSEARCH theme for this years Annual Waste Conference;
Wastes to Opportunities further builds on this symbiotic relationship and supports the three
pillars of sustainable development ; economic growth, environmental protection, and social
equality.
21.

It is indeed encouraging that ENSEARCH has continued in its efforts to enhance

sustainable practices through its Annual Waste Management Conference. This Wastes to
Opportunities conference is a constructive step forward as it provides a platform for
stakeholders and society to engage in the issues involved in transforming waste into a profitable
industry. I am confident in the near future we will see the emergence of industries converting
waste into wealth.

We hope to see more constructive engagements like this to promote

technological advances and effective practices already in use around the world that can be
brought to local context via this forum. I look forward to more collaborations and feedback
from ENSEARCH, other NGOs and civil societies for innovative better and more effective waste
management industry in our country.
21.

On that note, it now gives me great pleasure to officiate ENSEARCHs 10 th Waste

Management Conference & Exhibition.

Thank you.
Minister of Natural Resources & Environment