ANTALYA: Malaysia has proposed three transformative solutions to accelerate urban circularity globally, focusing on digital material tracking, performance-based municipal financing and equitable resource redistribution to strengthen climate resilience and advance the zero-waste agenda.
Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming, who is leading Malaysia's delegation at the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), said cities must fundamentally rethink how they are designed, financed and managed.
"This is to move away from the conventional linear model of consumption towards a circular economy, especially as more than 55% of the world's population resides in cities," he said at the the Malaysia Pavilion TED Talk session themed “Closing the Loop: Malaysia's Journey Towards Zero Waste”, here on Tuesday (Nov 10).
Nga proposed positioning cities as “Material Banks” through mandatory Digital Material Passports to track the composition, lifecycle and reuse potential of materials in industrial products and infrastructure.
He said this enables valuable resources such as lithium, copper and other critical minerals to be recovered rather than discarded.
His second proposal calls for a shift from conventional landfill tipping fees towards Performance-Linked Circular Grants and Municipal Transition Bonds.
Nga explained that, through this method, local authorities are rewarded through financial incentives based on measurable environmental outcomes, including recycling rates, landfill diversion and methane reduction.
Drawing on Malaysia's experience with the “Traffic Light System” across all 156 local authorities, he said performance-based financing could encourage local councils to accelerate investments in recycling facilities, decentralised biodigesters, composting and other sustainable waste management solutions.
His third proposal, known as the “Circular Equity Dividend”, seeks to ensure that the benefits of circularity reach underserved communities, including through the repurposing of retired electric vehicle batteries into energy storage systems to provide reliable electricity for rural communities, indigenous settlements and healthcare facilities.
“Malaysia's Circular Economy Blueprint for Solid Waste 2025–2035 sets national targets of achieving a 40% recycling rate and diverting 53% of waste from landfills by 2035, supported by initiatives such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), Separation at Source (SAS) and pilot Zero Waste Districts in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
“In 2024, Malaysia generated 14.5 million metric tonnes of municipal solid waste, with food waste accounting for 44.5% and plastics 13.2% while more than RM2bil is spent annually on waste management,” he said.
Apart from the keynote session, Nga, who is also President of the UN Habitat Assembly, is scheduled to participate in two panel discussions, namely “Future Fit Cities: Nature, Resilience and Innovation: Shaping the Cities of Tomorrow” and “Zero Waste: From Waste to Watts: Steps to Scale Zero Waste for Climate-Resilience Cities and Energy Security”, as well as bilateral meetings with international counterparts and strategic partners to strengthen cooperation in sustainable urban development and the circular economy.
COP31, held from 9 to 20 November 2026 in Antalya, Türkiye, brings together world leaders, ministers, government representatives, international organisations, civil society groups and climate practitioners to advance global cooperation on climate action.
