PETALING JAYA: The Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry (NRES) aims to ensure that 80% of rivers are classified as clean by 2030, reduce leachate pollution from landfill sites by 50%, and raise industrial compliance with effluent management standards to 90% across all industries.
To achieve these targets, the ministry is considering several measures, including stronger regulatory controls.
On this, the Department of Environment (DOE) has initiated a study to prepare a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS), in line with the requirement that all legislation be reviewed every five years.
According to the ministry’s public consultation document on the RIS impact study, the review focuses on water pollution, effluent management, waste management and soil subsidence.
“Although the number of polluted rivers has declined, overall pollution levels have increased when the reduction in clean rivers and the rise in moderately polluted rivers are taken into account,” the document said.
Based on the Environmental Quality Report 2023, water pollution is primarily defined by three parameters namely Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Suspended Solids (SS) and Ammoniacal Nitrogen (AN).
Of the 672 rivers monitored in 2023, 487 (72%) were classified as clean, 161 (24%) as moderately polluted and 25 (4%) as polluted.
“The most significant pollution occurs during low river flow conditions, which reduce the river’s capacity to dilute pollutants, resulting in higher concentrations of contaminants such as faecal coliform and nitrate,” the document said.
However, it noted that discharge limits for sewage treatment plants are still based on pollutant concentrations, even when river flow is insufficient to accommodate the pollutant load.
The ministry also plans to reduce BOD, SS and AN discharge loads from sewage sources by 10%.
Among the proposed measures is an amendment to the Effluent Regulations to require discharges to be based on total maximum daily load, rather than solely on concentration limits.
The document further highlighted low industrial compliance with the Environmental Quality Act, with average compliance among high-polluting industries not exceeding 85%, with the food, base metals and paper sectors recording the lowest compliance levels.
Root causes identified include high compliance costs for industrial effluent treatment systems (IETS), limited awareness, poor management and inadequate technology.
Proposed measures include continued enforcement of existing Industrial Effluent Regulations, mandatory on-site IETS, financial incentives such as tax breaks and grants, and allowing trade effluent discharge through third-party IETS, centralised IETS or treatment at sewage treatment plants for food and beverage industries.
“Leachate pollution levels are at a concerning level,” the document said.
Most waste sent to landfill sites comprises municipal solid waste (MSW), with high moisture content ranging from 42 to 47% (by weight), which increases significantly during festive seasons and generates higher volumes of leachate.
Internal DOE statistics via the Environment Institute of Malaysia show that of the 136 landfill sites nationwide, only 32% comply with the requirement to appoint a Competent Person (CP), equivalent to 44 sites.
The ministry aims to ensure one CP is assigned to each landfill site.
The document also proposes amendments to the Leachate Regulations to bring the regulation of scheduled waste landfill sites under those regulations, replacing oversight under the Environmental Impact Assessment Order.
In addition, the ministry has proposed closer collaboration between the National Solid Waste Management Department and local authorities to strengthen regulatory enforcement and jointly implement waste segregation at source.
