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Open Access Review

Malaysia Moving Towards a Sustainability Municipal Waste Management

by Yien Yu Tang 1 , Kuok Ho Daniel Tang 2 , Amit Kumar Maharjan 3 , Azrina Abdul Aziz 4 , Seng Bunrith 5
1 Department of Civil Construction Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Science, Curtin University, CDT 250, Miri, 98009, Sarawak, Malaysia
2 Environmental Science Program, Division of Science and Technology, BNU-HKBU United International College, 2000 Jintong Road, Tangjiawan, Zhuhai GD 519087, China
3 Interdisciplinary Centre for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi, Japan
4 Faculty of Civil Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Lebuhraya Tun Razak, 26300 Gambang, Kuantan Pahang Darul Makmur, Malaysia
5 Facultyof Hydrology and Water Resource Engineering, Institute of Technology Cambodia, PO BOX 86, Russian Federation Bvld, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

SUBMITTED: 28 November 2021; ACCEPTED: 19 December 2021; PUBLISHED: 20 December 2021

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Abstract

Abstract

The elevation of waste generation subsequent to population growth has become a severe environmental topic in Malaysia. Since most of the waste is being dumped into a landfill, the open dumpsite, or unsanitary landfills which are not constructed with proper engineering plan, severe impacts on the environment result. The energy demand in Malaysia increased with the growing population, but reliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity has created another greenhouse gas contributor. Alternatively, waste-to-energy technology solves the problem of increasing waste by converting the waste to a renewable energy source. Malaysia has moved towards landfill gas recovery system and incineration for waste energy recovery. The recovery system and refuse-derived fuel plant achieved expectation; however, the incineration plants have failed due to the opposition of the public, lack of funding and technician expertise, and other technical issues. The solid waste management practices lacking separation and recycling sources, become an obstacle for development. The government puts effort into solving the current issue by promoting recycling in the public, enforcing the legislation, and approaching new technologies for better solid waste management practice in the future. This paper aims to discuss the application of energy recovery from municipal solid waste in Malaysia.

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License
© 2021 Yien Yu Tang, Kuok Ho Daniel Tang, Amit Kumar Maharjan, Azrina Abdul Aziz, Seng Bunrith. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Tang, Y. Y., Tang, K. H. D., Maharjan, A. K., Abdul Aziz, A., & Bunrith, S. (2021). Malaysia Moving Towards a Sustainability Municipal Waste Management. Industrial and Domestic Waste Management, 1(1), 26–40. https://doi.org/10.53623/idwm.v1i1.51
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