Solid Waste Management in Malaysia: The Perspectives of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Youths on Consumers’ Commitment

Abstract

Solid waste management in Malaysia is under the responsibility of the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation or commonly known as SWCorp. It is licensed under the National Solid Waste Management Department, a department directed by the Ministry of Urban Well-being, Housing, and Local Government. SWCorp is responsible for setting up policies on solid waste management under the direct overview of the ministry. Solid waste management in Malaysia has undergone various levels of transformation from managing generated solid waste such as reusing and recycling before 2015 to reducing and segregating solid waste at source since 2015. The management of solid waste at source is emphasized by the enforcement of the 672 Act: Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007 in September 2015. Nevertheless, behavioral transformation requires a commitment to social responsibility, namely reducing, reusing, and recycling activities, in all sectors of the community. This chapter discusses and examines Malaysian consumers’ commitment to social responsibility in solid waste management from the perspectives of NGOs and youth. The consumer sector is the most crucial group in the community as it represents the main grassroots. Furthermore, the commitment at grassroots is more sustainable and longstanding compared to top-down enforcement. Additionally, given that NGOs are more sensitive to the transformation of public behavior, and youth are our future decision makers on the fate of the environment, this chapter discusses consumers’ commitment to social responsibility in waste management through the perspectives of NGOs and youth. The analysis regarding the commitment of Malaysian consumers through the perspectives of NGOs and youth indicates that Malaysian consumers are more committed to performing recycling and reusing activities as compared to reducing activities. These findings illustrate Malaysian consumers’ reluctance to embrace the philosophy behind behavioral transformation, that is prevention is better than cure. In this case, they are slow to adapt to the behavioral transformation activities related to reduce, segregate, and compost solid waste at the source.