Abstract
Malaysia, an upper-middle class country, populated with approximately 31 million people generated nearly 13.9 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) at per capita of 1.23 kilogram per day in 2016. Landfills and open dumps, being the absolute opposite of sustainable waste management, received about 80% of this generated MSW. Waste collection is on a par with developed nations, and almost all urban MSW is being collected for disposal. However, illegal dumping still occurs sporadically, and it can account for 10% of the total MSW generated. Hence, Malaysia is facing a stiff challenge in reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills and adopting sustainable waste management. National Solid Waste Management Department of Malaysia targets to divert 40% of MSW from landfills by 2020. There are total 296 landfills in Malaysia, and only 165 landfills are currently functional whereas the number of sanitary landfills is 8 out of 165 operating landfills. The national recycling rate of MSW was 17% in 2016 and the national recycling target in 11th Malaysian Plan is 22% by 2020.
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