One for the album: Nik Nazmi (centre) with Etika Group of Companies chief executive officer Santharuban Thurai Sundaram and Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry deputy secretary-general (development) Datuk Nor Yahati Awang with the world’s thinnest reverse vending machine with a compaction system. — Bernama
PUTRAJAYA: Setting up household e-waste collection centres and dedicating one day per month for recycling electronics are among initiatives to reduce such waste nationwide, says Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
The Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister said there are 140 registered household e-waste collection centres and 161 licensed premises nationwide authorised to receive e-waste.
This includes 45 full off-site recovery facilities that are capable of extracting valuable and precious metals from discarded electronic products, he told The Star.
“The government’s household e-waste management mechanism provides a legal framework to reduce and recycle e-waste.
“The mechanism governs the lifecycle of six categories of household e-waste, from generation to final disposal, while operationalising the extended producer responsibility (EPR) principle.
"This system places shared responsibility on importers, manufacturers, retailers, consumers, collectors and recyclers,” he said in response to questions about how the government plans to tackle Malaysia’s mounting e-waste problem.
The Environment Department estimates that the country will likely produce 24.5 million units of e-waste in 2025.
This is an increase from 23.8 million in 2024 and 22.7 million in 2023, with the majority of waste being mobile phones followed by personal computers.
In the last two decades, the country has produced 2.62 million tonnes of e-waste, which when piled up, is about 300m taller than Penang’s Komtar building, which is 249m tall.
As part of its efforts to address the issue, the ministry has declared the last Saturday of every month as the official national e-waste collection day, Nik Nazmi said.
“The ministry has launched nationwide awareness campaigns to encourage households to segregate e-waste and deliver it to registered collection centres or licensed recyclers capable of handling e-waste in an environmentally sound manner," he explained.
He added that the government is also promoting the circular economy approach to e-waste management to reduce reliance on landfills and treat e-waste as a resource.
“Our goal is to reduce e-waste generation, enhance reuse and recycling, and increase raw material efficiency, contributing to the sustainable consumption of natural resources," he noted.
Nik Nazmi added that the government is also committed to combating illegal global e-waste trafficking in line with its obligations under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.
“We are working with the Basel Action Network (BAN), as well as the police and Customs Department to strengthen border control and take swift action against illegal transboundary movements of e-waste.
“The collaborations have led to the successful interception and repatriation of illegal waste shipments, and underline our firm stance against environmental crimes," he said.
Action against the illegal e-waste trade is taken under the Environmental Quality Act 1974 and the Environmental Quality (Scheduled Wastes) Regulations 2005, which regulates the transportation and management of scheduled wastes, including e-waste, he added.
“In cases involving criminal syndicates or illicit financial flows, we also invoke the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 to investigate and prosecute offenders," Nik Nazmi said.
