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Articles | Sustainable Environmental Insight | Volume 2 - Issue 2 - 2025 | 61-71 | https://doi.org/10.53623/sein.v2i2.730
© 2025 by the author(s), and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License

Estimating Heavy Metal Concentrations in Landfill Leachate and the Impact of Waste Segregation in Malaysia

Author(s): Josfirin Uding Rangga 1 , 2 , ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4170-5835 , Sharifah Norkhadijah Syed Ismail 2 ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7446-886X , Karmegam Karuppiah 2 ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9488-9335 , Irniza Rasdi 2 ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1653-0001
Author(s) information:
1 Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), 94300 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
2 Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

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Volume 2 - Issue 2 - 2025

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Estimation of heavy metal concentrations in leachate was crucial for effective landfill management and pollution mitigation. The study aimed to estimate the volume of landfill leachate, the heavy metal content in the leachate, and their reduction through waste segregation practices. It was conducted in Malaysia and utilised municipal solid waste volume data from six states and two federal territories. A mathematical empirical model was applied to estimate the concentrations of heavy metals in the leachate. Based on the volume of landfilled waste, an estimated 565,000 cubic metres (m³) of leachate were discharged annually. Among the heavy metals analysed, Pb and Zn exhibited the highest concentrations (8.49 kg/yr). Waste segregation practices reduced heavy metal discharge in leachate, preventing approximately 7.09 × 10⁻⁴ to 5.32 × 10⁻³ kg/yr. Through mathematical modelling, this research provided a cost-effective approach for estimating heavy metal concentrations and supported strategies for addressing environmental and health impacts.

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SUBMITTED: 19 June 2025
ACCEPTED: 12 August 2025
PUBLISHED: 25 August 2025
SUBMITTED to ACCEPTED: 54 days
DOI: https://doi.org/10.53623/sein.v2i2.730

Cite this article
Rangga, J. U., Syed Ismail , S. N. ., Karuppiah, K. ., & Rasdi, I. . (2025). Estimating Heavy Metal Concentrations in Landfill Leachate and the Impact of Waste Segregation in Malaysia. Sustainable Environmental Insight, 2(2), 61–71. https://doi.org/10.53623/sein.v2i2.730
Keywords
Landfill leachate heavy metals mathematical modelling waste segregation environmental risk
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