Approaches to Effective Management in Reducing Plastic Waste in Malaysia from the Socio-Legal Aspect

Authors

  • Hanim Kamaruddin
  • Nur Insyirah Bt Jasri
  • Munirah binti Mohamed Halid
  • Nur Wafaa Azreen binti Mohd
  • Nur Hasyazira Binti Hashim
  • Nur Najwa Athirah bt Mohamed Nawawi
  • Sahain Nada Puthucheary

Keywords:

plastic; Malaysia; law; management; waste

Abstract

Plastic waste pollution is a major problem in Malaysia as the country ranks among the top ten countries with mismanaged plastic waste in the world. Malaysia has produced significant amount of plastic waste where most are washed into the oceans, dumped at landfills, burnt, and a fraction being recycled. This situation continuously affects human health and environment especially in marine waters. Existing waste management practices lack in handling large amount of plastic waste from household and businesses as there is no uniform approach within Malaysia to address the use of plastic waste. This paper reviews and analyses existing laws and social practice in relation to reducing plastic waste in Malaysia. It concludes that initiatives by the Malaysian government to reduce plastic waste is still within preliminary stages, and substantive legal approach remains absent.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Agamuthu, P & Victor, D (2011). Policy Evolution of Solid Waste Management. Retrieved at

http://eprints.um.edu.my/12896/1/2.Policy_evolution_of_Solid_Waste_Management_in_ Malaysia.pdf

Buchholz, K. (2019). “Malaysia new hub for plastic waste as China exits market”. Statista. Retrieved at https://www.statista.com/chart/18451/trade-flows-of-major- exporters-of-plastic-waste/.

Chauhan, GS & Wani, S (2019). “Plastic Pollution: A Major Environmental Threat”. International Journal of Innovative research in Technology, Volume 6, Issue 6, pp 43-46.

Fauziah, Sh., Liyana, IA & P Agamuthu (2015). “Plastic debris in the coastal environment: The invincible threat? Abundance of buried plastic debris on Malaysian beaches”. Waste Management and Research 33: 812–821.

Jambeck, JR. Geyer, R. & Wilcox, C. et al. (2015). “Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean”. Science. 347 (6223):768- 71.

McIlgorm, A., K. Raubenheimer and D.E. McIlgorm (2020). Update of 2009 APEC report on Economic Costs of Marine Debris to APEC Economies. A report to the APEC Ocean and Fisheries Working Group by the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong, Australia, December.

Mustafa, M. (2011). “Environmental Law in Malaysia”. The Netherlands: Aspen Publishers, Kluwer Law International.

“Plastic straw ruling needs public support” (2019, April 26). The Star. Retrieved at https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/community/2016/08/22/billions-of-plastic-bags-still- being-used-six-years-have-gone-by-since-the-government-launched-the-n/

Parker, L. 2018. “Here‟s how much Plastic Trash is littering the Earth”. Retrieved at

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/07/plastic-produced-recycling-waste- ocean-trash-debris-environment/.

Ritchie, H & Roser, M. (2020).”Plastic Pollution”. Our World in Data. Retrieved at https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution

Rodriguez, F. (2019). “Plastic”. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved at https://www.britannica.com/science/plastic

United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) (2018). “Single-Use Plastics: A Roadmap for Sustainability”. Retrieved at https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/25496/singleUsePlastic_sustaina bility.pdf

Wang, T. (2020). “Plastic Waste Worldwide- Statistics and Facts”. Statista. Retrieved at https://www.statista.com/topics/5401/global-plastic-waste/

Patrício Silva AL, Prata JC, Walker TR, Campos D, Duarte AC, Soares AMVM, Barcelò D, Rocha-Santos T. (2020). “Rethinking and optimising plastic waste management under COVID-19 pandemic: Policy solutions based on redesign and reduction of single-use plastics and personal protective equipment”. Sci Total Environ. 742:140565.

Patrício Silva AL, Prata JC, Walker TR, et al. (2021). “Increased plastic pollution due to COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges and recommendations”. Chemical Engineering Journal. 405:126683.

Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) Malaysia (2018). Malaysia‟s Roadmap towards Zero Single Use Plastics 2018-2030: Towards a Sustainable Future.

Wong, E.K. & Alyssa, F.H (2019). Plastic: An Undegradable Problem. Kuala Lumpur: Khazanah Research Institute. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0.

Downloads

Published

2021-02-28

How to Cite

Kamaruddin, H. ., Jasri, N. I. B. ., Halid, M. binti M. ., Mohd, N. W. A. binti ., Hashim, N. H. B. ., Nawawi, N. N. A. bt M. ., & Puthucheary, S. N. . (2021). Approaches to Effective Management in Reducing Plastic Waste in Malaysia from the Socio-Legal Aspect. The Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and Government, 27(1), 4483–4489. Retrieved from https://cibgp.com/au/index.php/1323-6903/article/view/876

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 1 (2021): The journal of contemporary issues in business and government

Section

Articles

License

You are free to:

  1. Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
  2. Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
  3. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

Under the following terms:

  1. Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  2. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Notices:

You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .

No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.