KUALA LUMPUR: Solid waste produced in Malaysia is projected to reach over 17 million tonnes by 2035, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming said it was also estimated that the rate of waste generation would increase between 0.9% and 1.2% annually.
"It is estimated that solid waste production in 2024 would be 15.2 million tonnes as compared to 12.63 million tonnes in 2012.
With the projected increase of 0.9% to 1.2% per year, Malaysia is estimated to produce 15.38 million tonnes of solid waste in 2025 and 17.03 million tonnes by 2035," he said in a parliamentary written answer to William Leong (PH-Selayang) on Thursday (Dec 5).
Leong had asked the ministry to state the projection of waste generation for the next 10 years and the steps taken by the National Circular Economy Council (NCEC) to address the issue of limited waste disposal areas.
Nga said that the increase in waste was mainly due to population growth, rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, economic development, and changes in lifestyles.
"To address this issue, the government through the NCEC has been taking efforts to monitor and coordinate the policies and implementation of the circular economy for solid waste to streamline with the 12th Malaysian Plan.
"The first NCEC meeting, held on April 30, agreed on several decisions," he added.
He said these decisions included drafting the Circular Economy Bill, which also involved reviewing several legislations related to solid waste management.
"Setting the target direction of the recycling rate for the year starting from 2026 until 2030, mandatory recycling data for manufacturers when renewing their licenses, and implementing Material Flow Analysis feasibility studies as a method to measure the recycling rate in Malaysia," said Nga.
He also stated that the council is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Solid Waste Circular Economy Blueprint (2025-2035), which was launched on Aug 6.
Among the efforts stated in the blueprint were introducing a new market for recyclable waste by improving existing guidelines, extending product shelf life, and increasing the development of material recovery facilities and integrated waste management facilities.
This also included the implementation of the extended producer responsibility to ensure producers are responsible for implementing acquisition and recycling in managing post-consumer products.
