The plastic waste problem in Malaysia: management, recycling and disposal of local and global plastic waste

Abstract

Plastic waste is one of the world’s most pressing human health and environmental concerns. Plastic constitutes the third highest waste source globally, with the total volume of plastic waste growing in-line with increases in the global population and per capita consumption. Malaysia is tracking global trends in both the overall generation of plastic waste and the consumption of single-use plastics and since 2017 has been the world’s largest importer of plastic waste. These elements create a number of major challenges for the country’s waste management system. This review outlines the current state of plastic waste production and management in Malaysia, including options for landfill, recycling and incineration. It presents information on the scale and both the human and ecological risks of plastic waste in the country (i.e. microplastics, landfill, incineration), outlines key plastic waste management policy initiatives (including plastics alternatives such as biodegradable plastics) and highlights key constraints on the success of these. Significant internal constraints stem from the inconsistent application of policy initiatives by state governments, in addition to the lack of public awareness and interest in household recycling. The paper closes by discussing options for and constraints on the switch to biodegradable alternatives and proposes a model of plastic management based on a circular economy approach and solid waste management hierarchy. Success in reducing the problems posed by plastic in Malaysia will require sustained effort at many levels, but positive experiences in other countries give some cause for optimism.

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Review Paper
The plastic waste problem inMalaysia: management, recycling
anddisposal oflocal andglobal plastic waste
HuiLingChen1· TapanKumarNath1· SiewhuiChong2· VernonFoo3· ChrisGibbins1· AlexM.Lechner1,4
Received: 3 August 2020 / Accepted: 18 January 2021 / Published online: 8 March 2021
© The Author(s) 2021 OPEN
Abstract
Plastic waste is one of the world’s most pressing human health and environmental concerns. Plastic constitutes the third
highest waste source globally, with the total volume of plastic waste growing in-line with increases in the global popula-
tion and per capita consumption. Malaysia is tracking global trends in both the overall generation of plastic waste and the
consumption of single-use plastics and since 2017 has been the world’s largest importer of plastic waste. These elements
create a number of major challenges for the country’s waste management system. This review outlines the current state
of plastic waste production and management in Malaysia, including options for landll, recycling and incineration. It pre-
sents information on the scale and both the human and ecological risks of plastic waste in the country (i.e. microplastics,
landll, incineration), outlines key plastic waste management policy initiatives (including plastics alternatives such as
biodegradable plastics) and highlights key constraints on the success of these. Signicant internal constraints stem from
the inconsistent application of policy initiatives by state governments, in addition to the lack of public awareness and
interest in household recycling. The paper closes by discussing options for and constraints on the switch to biodegrad-
able alternatives and proposes a model of plastic management based on a circular economyapproach and solid waste
management hierarchy. Success in reducing the problems posed by plastic in Malaysia will require sustained eort at
many levels, but positive experiences in other countries give some cause for optimism.
Keywords Plastic waste· Recycling· Global plastic waste· Waste management· Biodegradable plastic· Malaysia
1 Introduction
Plastics are made out of synthetic organic polymers and
are durable, lightweight, versatile, and relatively inexpen-
sive to produce, making them one of the most utilised
materials [1, 2]. The rst plastics were produced in the
1860s, but it was not until the 1940s that plastic manu-
facturing became one of the fastest-growing industries
globally [3]. Since then, plastics have gradually replaced
traditional materials, such as wood, metal and leather [4,
5]. Due to the versatility of plastics, they are now central
to the textile, automotive, manufacturing and packaging
industries [1, 4]. The packaging industry, owing to the
worldwide transition from reusable to single-use contain-
ers, is currently the largest market in the plastic industry
worldwide [6].
Plastic packaging accounts for more than a third of
the production of all plastic polymers [7] and constitutes
42 and 40 per cent of the plastic demand in the USA and
Europe, respectively [4]. According to the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) [8], single-use plas-
tics, which include grocery bags, containers and bottles,
* Alex M. Lechner, alechner@lincoln.ac.uk; Hui Ling Chen, khby6chl@nottingham.edu.my; Tapan Kumar Nath, Tapan.Nath@
nottingham.edu.my; Siewhui Chong, Faye.Chong@nottingham.edu.my; Vernon Foo, vernonwc.foo@gmail.com; Chris Gibbins,
Christopher.Gibbins@nottingham.edu.my | 1School ofEnvironmental andGeographical Sciences, University ofNottingham Malaysia,
Semenyih, Malaysia. 2Department ofChemical andEnvironmental Engineering, University ofNottingham Malaysia, Semenyih,
Malaysia. 3CM ECO, PetalingJaya, Malaysia. 4Lincoln Centre forWater andPlanetary Health, University ofLincoln, Lincoln, UK.
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constitute the majority of plastic packaging. These plas-
tics, which are designed for immediate disposal after use,
are often discarded within the same year of production.
Their increased use has contributed signicantly to the
increased generation of plastic wastes. In 2016, plastic
wastes constitute over 12 per cent of the global waste
composition, the third-highest after food and paper
wastes [9]. Geyer etal. [6] estimated that there will be
12,000 million metric tonnes of plastic waste on Earth by
2050 if current trends in plastic consumption persist.
Plastics are typically generated and remoulded until
they reach the end of their useful life, at which point a
product is disposed of and becomes waste [10, 11]. There
are two main routes after this point: (1) landlling, which
results in leakage out of the plastic system and (2) recov-
ery through incineration and recycling for energy and
resources [8]. Landll, a form of solid waste management
that is favoured by most countries in the world, often
involves the burial of wastes [12, 13] while waste recov-
ery involves the reuse and recycling of plastic wastes as
secondary raw materials [14, 15]. UNEP [8] statistics sug-
gest that only 21 per cent ofplastic wastes are recovered,
with incineration and recycling constituting 12 per cent
and 9 per cent, respectively, of disposal methods, andthe
remainder of plastics are disposed in landll.
Environmental and social concerns around plastic waste
has made it the subject of a rapidly expanding scientic
literature: a Scopus search conducted on 27/01/2020, for
example, shows that 1415 papers using the term ‘plastic
pollution’ were published in 2019 alone, with another 265
published in the rst month of 2020. Plastics have driven
an increase in plastic pollution and have contributed to
an array of major environmental problems. Plastic wastes,
which contain ame retardants, bisphenol A (BPA), phtha-
lates and heavy metals such as lead and cadmium, can
leach from landlls and bioaccumulate. Consequently, the
ingestion of marine organisms by humans may cause car-
diovascular diseases, reproductive abnormalities and obe-
sity [16]. In addition, discarded plastic bags, bottles and
plastic straws have become iconic symbols of the global
plastic problem, with most visible and disturbingimpacts
being the entanglement and suocation of turtles, mam-
mals and pelagic birds [17–19]. Derraik [20] reported that
the ingestion of plastic causes reduced food consumption,
internal injury and formation of fat deposits, reducing the
tness of marine organisms and eventually may cause
death.
In many developing countries, the mismanagement of
plastic wastes poses a threat to both the ecosystem and
human health. As one of the world’s major importer of
plastic waste, together with the increasing urbanisation
and population growth rates, Malaysia too faces problems
with the management of waste, in particularly plastic
wastes [21, 22]. Additionally, as a biodiversity hotspot
with some of the world’s most biodiverse coral reefs, plas-
tic waste is a major concern in Malaysia, threatening both
the terrestrial and marine ecosystems [23].
This paper reviews the major current challenges for
plastic waste management systems in Malaysia. It starts
by outlining the plastic waste issue, followed by the plastic
waste cycle, which details the recovery of plastic wastes
in Malaysia. It then examines policies related to plastic
wastes and plastic resource recovery in Malaysia. This is
followed by an assessment of Malaysia’s contribution to
the global plastic waste trade. The nal part of the paper
provides recommendations for addressing the key chal-
lenges of plastic wastes management in the country. The
review and the perspectives represented in this paper are
based on the sparse academic literature on plastic waste
management systems in Malaysia and discussions with
local experts, in addition to our own expertise.
2 Plastic waste issue inMalaysia
The plastic manufacturing industry has one of the highest
growth rates of all industries since 2000 [24]. With over
1,300 plastic manufacturers, Malaysia has one of the larg-
est plastic production industries globally [25] and in 2016,
resins of a value of 30 billion Malaysian Ringgits (MYR)
were exported to plastic producers around the world [25].
The Malaysian plastic industry has been categorised into 7
main sectors, comprising agriculture, household, packag-
ing, construction, electronics, automotive and other sub-
sectors that include plastic furniture and medical devices
[24]. Matching global patterns, packaging is the largest
end-use for plastic produced in Malaysia [26]
In common with the majority of developing countries
in Southeast Asia, Malaysia has waste management sys-
tems that are inadequate for dealing with the amount of
plastic waste produced [9]. The main ways of dealing with
plastic waste in the country are disposal in landlls and
domestic burning [22]. Malaysian household waste gen-
eration varies geographically and by economic status, and
ranges from 0.85kg to 1.5kg per person per day [22, 27].
The generation of household waste in Malaysia is higher
than other developing countries such as Indonesia and
Philippines, with 0.22kg and 0.4kg generated per person
per day, respectively [28, 29].
Malaysia is tracking global trends in both the over-
all generation of plastic waste and the consumption of
single-use plastics, where an overall upward trajectory
since the 1970s is observed in Fig.1. In 2007, plastic
wastes constituted 19 per cent of the total waste gen-
erated in Malaysia [30]. Of this waste, the majority (74
per cent) comprised single-use plastic films, with rigid
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plastics and foam plastics, constituting 17 and 9 per
cent, respectively [30]. In Asia, the percentage of plas-
tic in solid wastes generated in Malaysia is second only
to the Philippines [22]. Significantly, by 2018, Malaysia
produces more than 0.94 million tonnes of mismanaged
plastic wastes per year [25, 31].
Moh and Manaf [32] suggested that solid waste man-
agement is one of the main environmental problems
in Malaysia owing to the country’s population growth
and the development of landfill sites. These problems
include air, water and land pollution, as well as climate
change due to the release of greenhouse gases to the
atmosphere during the manufacturing processes [5, 33,
34]. Many of the problems stem from the durability and
hence longevity of plastics in the environment.
3 Plastic waste cycle inMalaysia
3.1 Overview
Like many other countries, municipal solid wastes in
Malaysia are either discarded and transported directly to
landll sites by privatised waste collection companies or
separated at source for recycling purposes (Fig.2) [35].
Recycled wastes are either (1) collected by scavengers and
waste collectors, or (2) sent to private or charity recycling
centres by waste generators before being transported to
recycling factories via traders [35]. That being said, landll
is the favoured form of solid waste management in Malay-
sia, with 85 percent of material going to landll; this high
percentage stems from the low cost of this form of solid
waste management [36–38].
A key problem for the disposal of plastics within the
solid waste management cycle is, unlike food and paper
wastes which are biodegradable, plastics cannot be per-
manently eliminated from the environment when left to
degrade in landlls [6]. Plastics take hundreds to thou-
sands of years to breakdown into smaller plastics frag-
ments, otherwise known as microplastics (i.e. plastics that
are smaller than 5mm in length) [8, 39, 40]. Consequently,
plastics will accumulate on Earth and decrease landll
space whilst simultaneously contributing to an almost
ineradicable contamination of the natural environment
[6, 41].
0
5
10
15
20
1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Percentage increase
in plasc waste
Fig. 1 Percentage increase of the generation of plastic wastes in
Malaysia from 1975 to 2012,adapted from [72, 114, 115]
Fig. 2 Flow chart of municipal
solid waste in Malaysia, show-
ing the general ow of munici-
pal solid wastes from source
to landll or recycling industry.
In the recycling industry, a por-
tion of wastes are returned to
the resource cycle to be reused
again, adapted from [35]
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Due to the rapidly increasing population and conse-
quences for consumption patterns, current landlls are
close to their maximum capacity [22]. The identication of
locations for additional landll sites is constrained by land
scarcity and potential impacts on the environment [22,
42]. The total waste generated in Malaysia can be reduced
greatly by plastic waste recovery and alsoby ensuring the
utilization of materials of potential economic value [43],
but so far there has been little attention given to alterna-
tive waste disposal methods.
In Malaysia, the majority of municipal solid domestic
waste is commonly disposed in both sanitary and unsani-
tary landll and there is very little recycling of post-con-
sumer plastic in Malaysia [44]. For some jurisdictions,post-
consumer plastics are segregated at source and collected
by private waste contractors paid for by municipal councils
[45]. However, these quantities are very low compared to
the total amount of plastics in waste [24]. Community col-
lection initiatives or “gotongroyong” communal activities
also have a role in collection in Malaysia [45]. Recyclable
plastics are also sent directly to plastics recyclers by indus-
try, landll scavengers and consumers through charity
bodies and junk shops, though data on the total amount
and type of plastics is sparse [24]. Industrial plastic waste
in the form of pre-consumer industrial waste is homog-
enous and clean in natureand therefore are much easier to
berecycled. In Malaysia, the majority of states and territo-
ries support municipal solid waste collection, either kerb-
side or drop-o [24]. While scavengers and manual sorting
of certain recyclables with market values (mainly plastic
and metal) from landfills or other sources does occur,
the quantity of recyclables sorted from a landll is very
small[24]. The quality, quantity and the form of collection,
sorting and recycling vary signicantly across Malaysia.
Even within the same municipality, privately managed
gated communities (which are common in Malaysia) may
organise their own municipal waste collection. Due to the
decentralised nature of the waste management systems
in Malaysia, there are no comprehensive datasets which
describe current trends, especially detailed data on the
percentage of each type of plastics, from its generation to
end-of-life recycling or landlling. While there are some
quantitative assessments [24], data is mostly based on
extrapolation and/or of very small case studies and thus
unreliable and dicult to generalise.
3.2 Waste recovery process
There are several reasons for the general lack of plastic
recovery across the world. When raw materials are used,
plastic production costs are lower compared using recy-
cled materials [46] Fig.3. Recycling of plastics is limited
due to their low commodity prices, which discourages
recycling industries (refer Fig.3 [26]). In Malaysia, for
example, Wahab etal. [33] found that 81 percent of plas-
tic manufacturing companies will opt for a cheaper and
higher quality virgin resin rather than recycled plastic pel-
lets. Plastics are highly versatile and can be produced in
various forms, and this poses problems for recycling. The
majority of the recyclers in Malaysia have pointed out that
mixed, multi-layered and soiled plastics limit recycling, as
well as the cost, time and energy-consuming nature of
the processes [26, 47]. The number of steps involved in
recycling, the heterogeneous chemical makeup, thermal
properties and chemical behaviour all limits recycling pro-
cesses, plastic waste is therefore most commonly disposed
in landll [47].
Several studies have compared the cost-eectiveness of
incineration and recycling. Lea [48] reported that incinera-
tion maximises energy cost savings in terms of energy con-
sumption and can reduce dependence on landll. While
similar ndings have been reported by others [49], Morris
Fig. 3 Flow chart of plastic
recycling in Malaysia; thick and
dashed lines represent greater
and lesser quantities of plastics
owing through the recycling
system, respectively, adapted
from Japan International
Cooperation Agency, cited in
NSWMD [26]
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[50] found that recycling of plastic wastes consumes far
less energy and has a reduced environmental burden
compared to landll or incineration. This is because the
construction of incineration plants is costly, despite hav-
ing technologies to lter out most of the air pollutants, as
importing plastic waste is commonly required to ensure a
steady supply for an economically viable production oper-
ation of incineration plants [49, 51]. Recycling allows for an
overall reduction in fossil fuel use and minimises overall
emissions of carbon dioxide, although the consumption
of energy and emissions are required for recycling [52, 53].
All in all, the societal benets of recycling, such as human
health, greatly outweighs the costs of recycling [50].
Though the majority of the plastics are disposed of in
landll, recycled or incinerated, plastic wastes can be lost
from the collection system. For example, in 2016, 32 per
cent of the world’s plastic was estimated to have lost from
the disposal system [8, 54]. Globally, an estimated 10 to
20 million tonnes of plastic nds its way into the oceans
annually, through direct dumping, losses during transport
and material on landlls escaping through wind transport
[4, 6, 55]. A major source of ocean contamination is the
direct disposal by coastal populations worldwide. This is a
concern in Malaysia, which has been estimated to be the
8th largest producer of mismanaged plastic waste globally,
with 140–370 million kilograms of plastic wastes entering
the ocean annually [31]. A particular problem in Malaysia
is that very little is known about the levels of microplas-
tic pollution in the environment. For instance, a Google
Scholarsearch conducted in January 2020 haveonly
returnednine studies of microplastic pollutionthat have
been publishedin Malaysia, of which two are related to
freshwater systems. Of those on freshwater, one was a
study of microplastic present in riverbed sediments [56]
and the other an assessment of loads in a lake dwelling
sh [57]. Thus, no published studies of loads carried by
rivers, uptake by river organisms or risks to humans from
contaminated potable water supplies or food derived from
rivers (notably sh) have been conducted in Malaysia.
In Malaysia, most rigid plastics can be recycled, espe-
cially mono-material plastics. However, multi-material
plastics can be achallenge for recycling. For exible plas-
tics, the most commonly recycled exible plastic is LDPE,
but must be supplied indry and clean conditions and
therefore is mostly sourced from factories. Flexible HDPE
can also be recycled,while flexible PP is not recycled
because of factors such as economy of scale, multi-layers
laminated condition, etc. The most commonly recycled
plastics in Malaysia are Type 1; polyethylene terephthalate
(PET), Type 2; high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and Type
5; polypropylene (PP). While there is no comprehensive
list of the types of plastics recycled in Malaysia, the ENF
Recycling directory lists the following plastics HDPE, ABS,
PP, PVC, LLDPE, PET, PC, LDPE [58] oered by 38 compa-
nies, whereas GESB [24] identied 173 plastics recyclers in
Peninsular Malaysia.
There are three main options for recycling plastic:
mechanical recycling, feedstock recycling and energy via
incineration [59]. Mechanical recycling process includes
washing, shredding, drying and classifying[11, 47]. The
nal product of this process is granules/pellets or akes,
whichare usedfor various applications, such as for play-
ground, photo frames andkitchenware. Feedstock recy-
cling uses chemical processes to break down plastics into
chemical components with heat or chemical reactions.
This process is particularly suited to multi-layers plastics,
where the chemicals produced are mostly oil. The recy-
cling of e-waste is less common in Malaysia; however,
there are a number of emerging organisations.
4 Institutional andlegal frameworks
towardsplastic waste management
inMalaysia
Under the Ministry of Housing and Local Government
(MHLG), the National Solid Waste Management Depart-
ment (NSWMD) is currently responsible for plastic waste
management in Malaysia [26]. Prior to the establishment
of NSWMD, waste was managed independently by local
and state governments [60]. Clause 72 of the Local Gov-
ernment Act 1976 allowed local and state governments to
establish, maintain and carry out sanitary services [61]. The
lack of a consistent solid waste management in Malaysia
has led to an estimated waste recovery rate of less than 5
per cent [62]. As a result, the government of Malaysia has
taken several initiatives to address dierent waste man-
agement problems in Malaysia. These are detailed in the
following sections.
4.1 Reducing single‑use plastics
In 2011, a No Plastic Bag Day (NPBD) campaign was
launched by the Ministry of Domestic Trade Cooperatives
and Consumerism (MDTCC), under which the provision of
free plastic bags in grocery stores was banned nationwide
[63–65]. The launch of NPBD was aimed at raising aware-
ness and reducing the use of single-use plastics in Malay-
sia [64, 66]. Through this campaign, a levy of 0.20 MYR was
also added per plastic bag consumed in grocery stores and
supermarkets in an attempt to change consumer behav-
iour [65]. Studies have suggested very dierent levels of
support for the campaign—from 66 per cent willingness
to participate in the campaign in Selangor, to only 35 per
cent in Kuala Lumpur [63, 66]. Asmuni etal. [64] suggested
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that a higher levy may need to be used in regions such as
Kuala Lumpur with higher incomes.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Energy, Science, Tech-
nology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) has
implemented Malaysia’s Roadmap towards Zero Single-
Use Plastics 2018–2030 [25]. Through this Roadmap, pollu-
tion charges will be incurred by consumers and manufac-
turers of single-use plastics. In 2019, the state governments
of Selangor and all 3 federal territories in Malaysia banned
the use of plastic straws [67–69]. A nationwide ban on the
use of straws was set to be launched in 2020 [70], but no
enforcement has been made to date. Nevertheless, news-
paper reports have shown a negative response to the plas-
tic straw ban in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor [68,
69, 71]. Similar to NPBDcampaign, the public may need
time to adjust, since plastic straws in Malaysia are com-
monly perceived as a necessity. Despite the government’s
strong motivation for reducing single-use plastics, waste
separation and recyclingand the ratio of plastic manufac-
turing to recycling is relatively low, as discussed above.
This is due to costs for recycling plastics being higher than
the costs of purchasing newly manufactured plastics.
4.2 Awareness ofrecycling
The rst National Recycling Programme (NRP) was initiated
in 1993 by the MHLG, to encourage the habit of apply-
ing the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). It aims to achieve
an annual increase in the recycling rate of 1 per cent [72].
Under Chapter19 of the Eighth Malaysia Plan,1 the govern-
ment of Malaysia has stated that awareness campaigns will
be carried out to encourage waste minimisation as well
as recycling practices [73]. In 2001, a National Recycling
Day was initiated. Subsequently, the public has shown a 30
per cent increase in recycling awareness [74]. In 2006, the
percentage of waste recovery remained at 3–5 per cent,
even though 70–80 per cent of the solid wastes generated
in Malaysia are recyclables [22]. In 2007, the Solid Waste
and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007 (Act 672) was
developed, along with a mandatory separation of house-
hold waste at source [60].
In 2015, the government set a household recycling rate
target of 22 per cent by the year 2020 (Chapter6 of the
Eleventh Malaysia Plan; [75]). While there is evidence of a
gradual increase in plastic recycling (Fig.4) [24], signicant
impacts of waste minimisation and participation in recy-
cling programmes have yet to be seen 10years after the
re-launching of NRPs [74]. This is because not all states in
Malaysia have ratied Act 672. As of 2019, only 6 states
(Perlis, Kedah, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Johor,
as well as 2 federal territories, Putrajaya and Kuala Lum-
pur) have ratied Act 672 [76]. More recent studies carried
out in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor have shown
a 47 per cent recycling rate [77]. In 2019, the MHLG also
announced that waste separation at source will apply to
commercial organisations, industries, and institutions [76].
4.3 Waste‑to‑energy initiative
The 10th and 11th Malaysia Plans state that the govern-
ment will initiate the development of waste-to-energy
incineration plants [75, 78]. The Government of Malaysia
[75] states that the utilisation of waste as a resource will
ensure ecient use of natural resources while minimising
pollution in the country. Although the public has opposed
thisgovernmentpolicy, MHLG has insisted that incinera-
tion plants are necessary for the future of waste manage-
ment [79]. In 2019, MHLG established a waste-to-energy
plant to phase out the use of landlls in Malaysia, primarily
for plastic wastes. MHLG has also suggested that incinera-
tion plants will be constructed in every state in Malaysia to
allow the conversion of plastic wastes into “green energy”
[80].
5 Global plastic trade
5.1 Shift inglobal plastic trade
Along with the worldwide increase in plastic produc-
tion, there has been an emerging global trade market in
plastic wastes. Owing to the shortage of domestic sup-
ply of raw material for domestic and export production
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
2007 2008 2009 2010
Plasc collecon (million kg)
Fig. 4 Recyclable plastics collection in Peninsular Malaysia from
2007 to 2010, adapted from [24]
1 The Malaysia Plans are commonly prepared by the economic
planning unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister’s Department and the
Finance Ministry of Malaysia with the approval of Cabinet and rep-
resents one of the most important overarching national policy doc-
uments. They provide a ve-year development plan for the nation,
outlining where the national budget will be allocated for all eco-
nomic sectors in Malaysia.
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demands, since 1993 China has been the world’s primary
importer of secondary raw materials, including plastic
and scrap metal [81]. China imports 45 to 56 per cent of
the world’s plastic wastes annually to support the plas-
tic production [8, 81–83]. These plastic imports are far
less expensive to use in production than domestic plas-
tic waste [81]. Between 1993 and 2016, global imports
and exports of plastic waste grew by 817 per cent, with
the largest exporters being Hong Kong, the USA, Japan,
Germany and the UK [82, 83].
According to Brooks etal. [82], countries with a high
GDP contribute to 87 per cent of all plastic exports,
despite having developed waste management systems
in their respective countries. This is because the process-
ing fees for the management of wastes are relatively
high compared to developing nations such as China
[82]. However, dissimilarities in the definition of waste
in individual countries have resulted in the imports of
low-quality and contaminated plastic waste [81]. Conse-
quently, the Chinese government introduced restrictions
requiring all imported plastic wastes to have a very low
level of contamination, and most recently (2017) there
has been a ban on import of plastic wastes [82, 84]. Chi-
na’s ban will result in the displacement of an estimated
of 111 million metric tonnes of plastic wastes by the year
2030 [82, 84], which has given rise to other countries
importing plastic waste, especially in Southeast Asia.
Although countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and
Thailand are importing a much larger share of plastic
wastes since China’s ban, none of these countries have
the waste management capacity of China [84].
5.2 Malaysian plastic imports
In order to produce recycled products, Malaysia has been
importing wastes from other countries; this is necessary
because of the low domestic recycling rates [85]. Unlike
China, the import of plastic wastes into Malaysia (2006–10
data) is much lower than export rates [24]. However, this
trend has changed since the announcement of the ban
of import of plastic wastes by the Chinese government,
with import of plastic waste rising since 2017 (Fig.5). While
Britain, the USA, Australia and Japan are the top exporters
of plastic wastes, Malaysia is a top importer: a total of 105
thousand tonnes of plastic wastes was imported in 2017,
a 68 percent increase from 2016 (Fig.5) [86–88]. Since
2017, Malaysia has been the world’s largest plastic waste
importer, including illegal imports, where plastic wastes
are declared using commodity codes which do not require
permits [89]. The problem has been exacerbated by the
lack of plastic waste recycling facilities [86]. Plastic wastes
that are imported illegally are often contaminated and are
of lower grades, which are often burned illegally, resulting
in the release of toxic substances [90].
The Malaysian Government has now introduced several
policies to address this problem, including the issuance
of plastic waste import permits and the close monitor-
ing of permit holders. In July 2018, the issuance of per-
mits required for the import of plastic wastes were sus-
pended, while the 62 current permit holders in Malaysia
have beenmonitored closely as of June 2019 [91, 62]. Up
to 148 illegal plastic recycling plants (i.e. plants that do
not hold a permit) have been shut down in 2019 [93, 94].
In October 2018, NSWMD have enforced 18 terms for the
import of plastic wastes, which mandates waste recycling
plants to categorise plastic wastes, keep clear records of
appropriate documents and pay levies for the imports of
plastic wastes [95].
The problem of plastic waste imports has alsobeen
addressed globally through the Basel Convention. This
Convention is an international treaty aimed at reducing
the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes, pri-
marily from developed to developing countries [96]. In
2019, parties from 187 countries amended the Basel Con-
vention and included plastic wastes in the legally binding
Fig. 5 Imports of plastic
wastes by Malaysia from 2016
to 2018 [87]
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framework, ensuring a transparent global trade of plastic
wastes [97]. This amendment will assist in the restriction of
plastic waste imports into Malaysia, whereby plastic trade
will be supported by a “Prior Informed Consent” (PIC) pro-
cedure to prevent the dumping of waste plastics to devel-
oping countries [94, 97].
6 The way forward
6.1 Mainstreaming plastic alternatives
As well as reducing the amount of plastic going into land-
ll, an important complementary approach is to main-
stream plastic alternatives; e.g. the use of biodegradable
plastics has been suggested by the government [25]. How-
ever, despite the promotion of such alternatives and exist-
ence of legal frameworks for the management of plastic
waste in Malaysia, several challenges remain. The public
and many organisations including food and beverage
businesses are still unaware of biodegradable alternatives,
and despite the government’s strong motivation, the ratio
of plastic manufacturing to recycling or biodeagradable
plasticsremains low.
Biodegradable alternatives derived from materials such
as sugarcane, starch and polylactic acid (PLA) each have
dierent characteristics. For instance, sugarcane is 100
per cent biodegradable and compostable, while starch
products are formulated with PLA, which require specic
conditions to degrade, making them harder to degrade.
Unlike traditional plastic materials, biodegradable plas-
tics are polymers produced from natural resources such
as plants, animals as well as microorganisms. If subjected
to sucient humidity and oxygen levels, these polymers
will be broken down by microorganisms that are usually
found in landlls [24]. However, in spite of their degrada-
ble properties, certain single-use plastic alternatives, spe-
cically biodegradable plastics, will not perish from the
environment, but instead disintegrate into microplastics
[98, 99]. In addition, falsely advertising non-biodegradable
and non-recyclable polystyrene food containers with certi-
ed biodegradable logos further complicates the process
for business owners that have agenuine intent to switch
to biodegradable alternatives.
A key challenge for businesses is associated with both
the cost and demonstrating benets of using plastic alter-
natives. Business owners that are ready to use biodegrad-
able packaging are required to charge more to consumers
to minimise liability, but consumers may not be satised
with bearing the cost. In addition, manufacturers are reluc-
tant to produce alternative packaging due to the imma-
ture marketand production costs therefore are high when
not being produced in high volumes. Manufacturers need
to work together with businesses to educate and promote
biodegradable alternatives, and work towards mass pro-
duction to reduce costs.
6.2 Model ofplastic waste management based
oncircular economy
Malaysia needs a step change in how it addresses and
manages plastic waste. Currently, most manufacturers
using recycled plastics will rstly opt for imported plas-
tic as raw materials, because of guaranteed supply, lower
price, large volumes and homogeneous resins. The second
choice for raw materials is local industrial rejects (factory
grade) plastic. Municipal (post-consumer) plastic waste is
usually the last choice for most plastic recyclers in Malaysia
because of high level ofimpurities, higher buy-backcost,
inconsistent quality and higher loss. Weak and fragile
supply chain is the largest challenge faced by current and
past local plastic recyclers;business sustainability is highly
dependent onmarket buying price. The demand sideof
management is very challenging, as plastic recyclers have
to oer very competitive price on recycled plastic resins
[100] because of inherent challenges such asbuyers’ per-
ception, limited application, smaller market segmentsand
competition from China. Local plastic manufacturers often
don’t give due priority to recycled plastic resins asenvi-
ronmental concern is not a priorityand prot outweighs
environment. Moreover, the plastic recycling business in
Malaysia (and globally) is highly aected by oil price. When
oil price plunges, plastic manufacturers will prefer to buy
virgin plastic resin as its price dierence with recycled
plastic resin is very small. Therefore, most post-consumer
plastics in Malaysia end up in landll or is illegally dumped
or burnt, due to weak support and enforcement.
Based on the concept of the circular economy and the
integrated solid waste management hierarchy, a plastic
waste management model is proposed (Fig.6). This could
serve as a sustainable option complying with the ‘New
Plastics Economy’, which is an initiative spearheaded by
the Ellen MacArthur Foundation with support from the UN
Environmental Programme (The Ellen MacArthur [101]).
We identify nine recommendations for Malaysia and
discuss key elements of these recommendations in the
subsequent text:
1. A comprehensive evaluation of current recycling and
waste disposal activities including data on rates and
methods of recycling of dierent types of plastics and
the key industry players across Malaysia.
2. Ban on single-use plastics and microbeads.
4. Promote, educate and enforce the recycling of waste
plastics.
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5. Establishment of standards for plastic labelling and
production.
6. Support plastics recycling supply chain which stand-
ardises the collection, distribution and production of
recycled plastics.
7. Promote biodegradable alternatives along with the
collection, processing and composting of plastics
wastes.
8. Support a circular economy approach which reduces
waste—extension of plastic product longevity and the
redistribution ofproducts (i.e. sharing economy).
9. Incinerate and conversion to biogas of petroleum-
based plastics in the short term.
The model emphasises the recovery of fossil-fuel plastic
waste via recycling processes into raw materials and the
development of plastic alternatives. Moh and Manaf [22]
argued that plastics have high potential for waste recov-
ery due to their widespread use and thoughtless disposal
into landlls in Malaysia. Plastic recycling can be encour-
aged by establishing a standard for plastic production,
primarily for the plastic packaging industry. While,adopt-
ing a Circular Economy approach will require changes
from society, industry and government which in some
cases can be quite radical. For example, George [46] sug-
gested thatstandardising plastic production by industry
would ensure that all plastics are of the same colour or
are produced from similar monomers, which would greatly
benet the plastic recycling process. Consumers will be
required to be educated in order to understand the impor-
tance of recycling from the perspective of waste separa-
tion to paying higher prices for recycled products [102].
The plastic waste management model encompasses
the significance of the development of renewable and
compostable plastic alternatives, and the establishment
of a closed-loop supply chain of the existing fossil-fuel
derived plastics. The former conforms to the initiatives
from the government on developing renewable and
compostable (biodegradable) plastic alternatives to
slowly replace the fossil-fuel plastics [25]. In Malaysia,
most of the plastic recycling companies will opt for
imported recycled plastics compared to local recycled
plastics due to lower prices, large volume, homogene-
ous and guaranteed supply. The local industrial plas-
tic rejects (factory grade) are their second preferred
choice. Weak and fragile supply chains and a lack of a
well-functioning market for recycled plastics is the larg-
est challenge faced by the local plastic recyclers [102].
Therefore, in order to boost the recycling industries and
market competitiveness, the establishment of a system-
atic closed-loop supply chain as outlined in the plastic
waste management model requires a collaborative effort
from all sectors from waste collection, sorting and recy-
cling, to manufacturing and post-consumer, with the
enforcement of legislation in place [24].
Fig. 6 A plastic management model supporting a circular economy
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In addition to implementing a complete ban on single-
use plastics with the Roadmap, MESTECC should consider
how to deal with microbeads (one type of primary micro-
plastic). Xanthos and Walker [103] indicatedthat micro-
beads have received far less attention when it comes to
minimising the impact of plastic wastes on the environ-
ment compared with plastic bags. In countries such as the
Netherlands, Canada and the USA, legislation has been
passed to control the use of microbeads, which includes
the prohibition of manufacturing, imports and sales [103].
Drawing on experiences from these countries, MESTECC
may implement the prohibition of microbeads, primarily
in pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs).
The Malaysian government also needs stronger
enforcement of its legislation and further eorts to pro-
mote environmental awareness and public engagement.
Lack of enforcement has also hindered the success bans
on plastic in other countries [104–106]. If implemented
eciently, bans and levies on single-use plastics, primar-
ily plastic bags, have shown positive results in Denmark,
Portugal and England, with a reduction in the use of plastic
bags of more than 50 per cent [107–109]. Education cam-
paigns will most likely aid in the reduction of plastic pol-
lution [103], primarily those that result from plastic bags
and microbeads. In locations such as Aruba (Venezuela)
and India, the wide acceptance and endorsement of the
plastic bag bans were made possible by the active promo-
tion of education programmes [8]. The government can
also encourage the use of cloth or jute bags to reduce the
overall consumption of single-use plastic bags in Malaysia.
The encouragement of the use of reusable cloth bags in
countries such as Thailand, Egypt, Kenya and China has
successfully reduced the consumption of up to 4.4 million
plastic bags [8]. Other measured targeted at local munici-
palities and industry may include landll taxes and incen-
tives for municipalities to promote recycling [102].
From the perspective of household wastes, Malaysia
needs to implement stricter waste separation at source
by drawing upon lessons from policy implementations
in Japan, Taiwan and Germany (i.e. Table1). Legislation
in Malaysia is often unclear, and enforcement of waste
separation varies between municipalities and states. Resi-
dents are often uninformed about obligations and oppor-
tunities for recycling, this indicates a lack of governance
in the waste management sector. Housing developers and
housing management committees could be integrated
into the governance structure to improve this situation.
Also, there should be proper signage in every housing
area, showing the importance and proper methods of
waste separation and recycling. Concurrently, housing
management organisations can provide appropriate bins
for waste disposal and impose non-compliance penalties.
On the other hand, incentives (e.g. vouchers) can be pro-
vided to thosewho heedwaste recycling rules.
The promotion of alternatives to petroleum-based
plastics is also critical; and biodegradable alternatives
have recommended by the government [24, 25, 110,
111]. However, in many cases these alternatives will not
break down in landll, require very specic conditions for
decomposition and/or create microplastics which are det-
rimental to the environment. If the biodegradable plastic is
compostable (e.g. labelled as renewable and compostable
plastics in Fig.6), it can easily be grouped together with
food waste or organic waste and sent to composting facili-
ties. Compost can serve as a green alternative to chemical
fertiliser. Therefore, in addition to the recycling system for
plastic waste, establishment of an eective organic waste
management system able to treat compostable plastic
simultaneously, is an important part of the waste man-
agement system. This requires substantial and long-term
collaborative eorts between government, industry and
community sectors.
From a Circular Economy perspective, keeping
resources in a closed-loop system should be considered
a rst priority. The role of incineration is questionable in a
Circular Economy, although it can simultaneously address
the problems of energy demand, waste management and
GHG emissions (Pan etal., 2015). However, incineration is
not applicable for many of the plastic types, especially
polyvinyl chloride (PVC, resin code 3) and polystyrene
(PS, resin code 6), as these plastic types emit hazardous
gases during incineration [112]. A recent study in Malaysia
Table 1 List of countries and their respective household waste management methods for resource recovery
Country Policy Method of resource recovery Source
Denmark Denmark without Waste II Recycling The Danish Government [116]
Germany German Closed Cycle Management Act Circular Economy Nelles etal. [117]
Japan Waste Management and Public Cleans-
ing Law Recycling at source and recycling fee Ministry of the Environment Govern-
ment of Japan [118]
Sweden Swedish Environmental Code Waste to energy Government Oces of Sweden [119]
USA (San Francisco) Mandatory Recycling and Composting
Ordinance Composting and recycling at source Brigham [120]
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has found that the energy from non-recycled plastics is
equivalent to more than 4 million barrels of oil per year
[113]. If incineration is used to treat plastic waste, PVC and
PS will have to be separated out appropriately either via
automatic sorting plant such as material recycling facility,
or manual sorting which requires manpower and can be
costly. There also needs to be a ue gas treatment system
in place. The government needs to focus eorts on plas-
tic waste recovery (i.e. recycling), while also working on
reducing the environmental impact of existing incinera-
tion plants.
Finally, a Circular Economy promotes a systemic
approach to green economic development which is
transformative, and characterised by new business mod-
els, innovative approaches to product design, distribution
and refurbishment/remanufacturing products [101]. The
principles of Circular Economy are more far reaching than
just zero-waste and recycling. It promotes the three princi-
ples: (1) design out waste and pollution,(2) keep products
and materials in use, and(3) regenerating natural systems
[101]. A Circular Economy approach will need to provide
the right economic incentives, technological advance-
ments and changes to the labour force which will involve
many stakeholders [102]. Such an approach will require
that the costs be shared fairly among all parties involved
in the product life cycle [102].
7 Conclusion
Improper landlling and plastic waste management sys-
tems have resulted in many environmental and human
health problems in Malaysia, with the country now hav-
ing an unwanted reputation as a major contributor to
the marine plastics problem. Malaysia needs to aim for
a closed-loop plastic waste recycling system based on
acircular economy approach where plastics never end up
as waste. This needs to be supported by nancial invest-
ments for establishing a green supply chain and develop-
ing a consistent waste management model which includes
standardising plastic production and recycling processes.
In addition, stronger enforcement of legislation, stricter
waste separation at source and environmental educa-
tional programmes are required. There is also potential
for renewable and compostable biodegradableplastics,
which can be treated along with food and organic waste,
as a clean alternative worth investigating and investing
in to gradually replace conventional plastics. Uptakebar-
riers include the low cost of solid waste management,
whereby landll is the favoured option. Mainstreamingof
plastic alternatives and recycled plastics faces a number
of challenges, including competing with the low cost and
higher quality fossil-fuel-derived resins, lack of proper
segregation from other wastes, and dealing with associ-
ated contamination. Plastics alternatives will always be an
important part of the solution as not all plastics can be
recycled or are economical to recycle. Finally, it is critical
that Malaysia regulates the import of plastic waste, ensur-
ing that its waste management system can recycle these
plastics without causing environmental and human health
risks. Currently, the volumes of material being produced
are such that waste management systems cannot cope,
so a package of eorts are needed. Critical to underpin
thesechanges are increased awareness and commit-
ment, with government and other stakeholders working
together to change mindsets.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge Jaron
Keng from OWD Consultancy for his assistance.
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of interest On behalf of all authors, the corresponding au-
thor states that there is no conict of interest.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri-
bution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adap-
tation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the
source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate
if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this
article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless
indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not
included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended
use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted
use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright
holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creat iveco mmons
.org/licen ses/by/4.0/.
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