Eight year old Nur Khadijah Basil stands barefoot on a weathered wooden plank, clutching a slice of watermelon as she looks out over what was once a clear tidal channel now smothered by a dense blanket of floating rubbish in Kampung Lok Urai, Pulau Gaya. — ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/The Star
IN today's highly competitive and rapidly evolving business world, it is becoming increasingly important for businesses to not only be economically efficient, but also environmentally responsible.
Waste management is an essential component of environmental sustainability, and sustainable waste management covers many aspects throughout the entire value chain—from waste reduction, reuse and recycling to energy recovery, treatment and proper disposal—with the ultimate aim of minimising waste’s overall impact.
However, recycling is often given the most emphasis among all the above, with attention focused on how much waste material has been recycled, the recycling rate achieved and the monetary returns from various recycling initiatives.
We do not hear many stories about waste reduction, responsible treatment or proper disposal. Businesses are less inclined to highlight how much hazardous waste has been generated, how non-recyclable waste is handled, where e-waste is disposed of, and how much budget is spent on waste treatment—whether it is landfilled, incinerated or otherwise managed.
This is normal, as businesses prefer to showcase the “benefits” rather than the “costs” of waste management. Unfortunately, in the long run, this approach creates an undesirable situation where many waste management issues and challenges are swept under the carpet and neglected.
Dr Theng Lee Chong is an advisor to the National Circular Economy Council (NCEC) Malaysia and is on National Advisory Panel for Global Plastic Agreement.
The ugly truth
Most countries that proudly claim to have achieved high recycling rates are developed nations. Children in these countries are taught in schools to properly segregate recyclable waste such as plastic bottles.
However, what they are rarely taught is the ugly truth: these very plastic bottles may end up travelling thousands of miles from their country of origin, polluting land in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, which are treated as dumping grounds.
This problem of cross-boundary “recycling”, or illegal waste trafficking, is not new and is still occurring. It is not limited to plastic waste, but includes all types of waste, including hazardous materials such as batteries and e-waste.
> Between January 2023 and February 2025, about 131,000 tonnes of e-waste in 7,600 containers were illegally exported from the USA to Malaysia, with an estimated value of USD1 billion.
> Between 2017 and 2021, ASEAN countries collectively imported over 100 million tonnes of metal, paper and plastic waste, valued at nearly US$50 billion.
> Plastic waste imports into the ASEAN region—specifically Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand—increased by 171% between 2016 and 2018, from 836,529 tonnes to 2,265,962 tonnes.
> As much as 30% of waste shipments from EU countries were reportedly illegal, generating an illicit market worth around EUR9.5 billion annually. A significant proportion of this waste is believed to be routed to Asean nations.
> Inadequate waste management systems in many Asean countries worsen the problem. On average, 56% of plastic waste in the region is mismanaged.
Illegal waste trafficking is often the result of recycling becoming purely profit-driven, where business interests overshadow environmental responsibility. It has grown into not only a trade issue, but also an ethical one—involving exploitation, crime, cross-border pollution and disruptions to global waste flows.
It is particularly shameful for so-called “high-recycling” countries if their waste is merely being dumped in other nations. Likewise, companies that claim to be green and hold certifications such as ESG or ISO 14001 risk becoming a laughing stock unless they can prove their waste does not form part of illegal shipments that harm poorer countries.
ESG: ethical, selfless and graceful
Today, environmental certification is often considered a basic requirement for businesses that wish to export to developed markets. Isn’t it ironic that we will need to fulfil certification such as ESG in order to export to developed countries, while at the same time unwanted waste is coming all the way from these countries to us illegally?
Official records from the past five years show that countries involved in waste trafficking into Malaysia include Japan, Spain, Belgium, France, Germany and the USA, among others. Of course, responsibility lies with both exporting and importing parties, and not all developed nations are equally at fault. Nevertheless, global waste trading remains poorly regulated and disproportionately burdens poorer countries.
Environmental protection should be a two-way obligation—not only imposed on developing nations, but equally expected of developed ones. ESG must go beyond being a checklist and stand for “ethical, selfless and graceful”. Its true purpose is to ensure today’s investments deliver a better tomorrow. If compromised, it risks becoming nothing more than “embarrassing, shameful and guilty”.
What’s the potential solution?
Traceability is key. Businesses should always align profit with sustainability and integrity by clearly understanding what waste they generate, how much, and, most importantly, where it ends up — whether recycled or disposed of.
Asean countries would normally return illegal waste containers to their countries of origin when they are intercepted, but we rarely hear updates about what happens to these hundreds of thousands of containers, how the countries of origin manage them, or where they are ultimately recycled or disposed of.
Is there a possible risk that containers carrying thousands of tonnes of waste could be dumped into the ocean while being shipped back to their countries of origin? This risk can only be mitigated if traceability is fully implemented and closely monitored.
In addition, transparency and accountability are crucial for businesses to ensure a holistic approach to waste management, leaving no information hidden and avoiding reporting only the preferred side of the story.
For instance, when highlighting achievements such as the volume of recyclables collected, businesses should also report on non-recyclable and hazardous materials that require treatment and incur high costs.
Willingness to pay for proper waste management whenever required is crucial and should be seen as something to be proud of, as it shows the real commitments and responsibility of the businesses. Waste management should first make sense, before making any cents!
-ENDS-
