Latifah Abd Manaf

Municipal solid waste management in Malaysia: practices and challenges.

Rapid economic development and population growth, inadequate infrastructure and expertise, and land scarcity make the management of municipal solid waste become one of Malaysias most critical environmental issues. The study is aimed at evaluating the generation, characteristics, and management of solid waste in Malaysia based on published information. In general, the per capita generation rate is about 0.5-0.8 kg/person/day in which domestic waste is the primary source. Currently, solid waste is managed by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, with the participation of the private sector. A new institutional and legislation framework has been structured with the objectives to establish a holistic, integrated, and cost-effective solid waste management system, with an emphasis on environmental protection and public health. Therefore, the hierarchy of solid waste management has given the highest priority to source reduction through 3R, intermediate treatment and final disposal.

Equilibrium studies and dynamic behavior of cadmium adsorption by palm oil boiler mill fly ash (POFA) as a natural low-cost adsorbent

AbstractThe highlight of this study is the adsorption properties and characterization of palm oil boiler mill fly ash (POFA) as a natural low-cost adsorbent for the removal of Cd(II) from aqueous solution. An array of batch adsorption studies has been done with the effects demonstrated by relevant parameters such as contact times, solution pH, adsorbent dosage, and initial Cd(II) concentration to investigate POFA performance. Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis has shown that the structural surface of POFA containing porous carbon and revealing ion exchange may serve as one of the major mechanisms accountable for Cd(II) adsorption onto POFA. Fundamental batch investigations have implied that 80% of Cd(II) was removed in the first 30 min reaching equilibration, after only going through the process of agitation for 210 min. The Cd(II) uptake mechanism is specifically pH and concentration dependant with pH 7 being the optimum reading. A decreased adsorption capacity with an increased Cd(II) removal effici...

Residents' Perceptions of the Visual Quality of On-Site Wastes Storage Bins in Kuching

Concerns regarding public health and aesthetics considerations of the on-site waste storage have arisen due to improper storage of waste. Research on resident’s visual preferences and concerns for solid waste management facilities is still limited. Therefore, the goal of this study is to understand the perceived visual aesthetic quality of onsite waste storage facilities in Kuching, Sarawak. Since the privatization of solid waste management in Kuching, the concessionaire has been providing uniform mobile garbage bins to residents. This has improved the solid waste management systems. Photographs showing the mobile garbage bins provided by the concessionaire have the highest ratings.

An integrated methodology for establishing industrial effluent limits in developing countries: Iran as a case study

BackgroundEnvironmental policies should be developed in a contextual decision-making process regarding local environmental concerns emphasizing the economic, technical, social and institutional considerations. Establishing emission limit levels, especially in the industrial sector, is one of the most problematic environmental issues in developing countries, for which it is essential to include several criteria that reflect their country-specific constraints and capacities. Since Best Available Technology (BAT) is acknowledged to be the reference element for sustainable development and a basis for Emissions Limit Values (ELVs), the objective of this study is to present a reliable methodology for establishing ELVs thresholds with an emphasis on the BAT concept for national regulation at the sector level.MethodsA hybrid fuzzy multiple-criteria decision-making (FMCDM) process, consisting of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (fuzzy TOPSIS) method, is structured to aggregate the different criteria and rank different ELV alternatives in this complicated evaluation. In order to use the most profound knowledge and judgment of a professional expert team, this qualitative assessment highlights the importance of supportive information.ResultsThe results obtained indicate that experts have considered the country-specific information as a reliable reference in their decisions. Among different key evaluation criteria in effluent standard setting, the highest experts’ priority is “Environmental protection”. For both the conventional and toxic pollutants, the influence of all other criteria namely “Economic feasibility”, “Technology viability” and “Institutional capacity”, as constraining criteria in developing countries, have not reduced the responsibility towards the environmental objectives. In ELVs ranking, experts have made their decisions with respect to the specific characteristics of each pollutant and the existing capacities and constraints of the country, without emphasizing on any specific reference.ConclusionsThis systematic and transparent approach has resulted in defensible country-specific ELVs for the Iron and Steel industry, which can be developed for other sectors. As the main conclusion, this paper demonstrates that FMCDM is a robust tool for this comprehensive assessment especially regarding the data availability limitations in developing countries.

Solid waste management transition in Selangor: issues and challenges

Solid waste management in Malaysia has been facing many changes since a few decades ago. In September 1995, the Government decided to privatize the management of solid waste and in 2007 the Cabinet decided that the interim privatization is to cease for full privatization. With the Local Authorities (LAs) losing their authority, this privatization and enforcement of Act 672 has raised some dispute between the Federal Government and State Government in Selangor. Due to the conflict, Selangor has been exempted from the enforcement of the Act 672 and later terminate Alam Flora as their contractor. Therefore, the responsibility of managing the solid waste in each area will be under LAs and being monitored by the State Government. Based on the interview with several LAs officers in Selangor, this transition has positive and negative impacts to them. The termination of Alam Flora as their waste contractor can save a lot of money as they are managing the solid waste on their own. The LAs in Selangor is also directly involves with the process thus know the real situation of their solid waste scenario in their jurisdiction. Besides that, with the rotation system of hiring contractor in each LA, solid waste management can be improved. However, the LAs need to come out with their own plan for environmental program as Federal Government is not responsible for their solid waste management. Termination of Alam Flora has also increased workload for the LAs. Adaptation of new contractor has also caused time consuming and delay in solid waste disposal. This paper will discuss more on how this transition process gives impact to the LAs in Selangor.

Opportunities for Household Solid Waste Recycling and Policy Status in Malaysia

Malaysia provides ample opportunities for solid waste recycling due to their dependence on recyclable materials, which could be observed from the dominance of recyclables in the wastes disposed at the landfills. This paper attempts to develop an overview on the opportunities for solid waste recycling in Malaysia at the most basic level of a community or nation which is the household unit, besides reviewing on the Malaysian solid waste management and recycling policy status. Information on solid waste recycling is significantly underdeveloped, as most studies tend to focus more on general aspects of solid waste management in Malaysia. Substantial progress has been made by the government and related authorities in developing a more comprehensive solid waste management, recycling policies, awareness campaigns and relevant projects. Waste separation and recycling are part of the major changes in the current policy implementation. However the local participation has not been encouraging and the recycling rate falls back at merely 5 % that proves how uncommon recycling practice is. Households are not aware of proper waste recycling etiquette. Environmental considerations exist among households but space limitations and misconceptions hinder recycling practice. The role of monetary rewards seems to be overplayed and the influence of other reasons for recycling has been slightly underestimated when it comes to implementing recycling policy and programme strategies.

Garbage enzyme as a solution to waste minimization

Garbage enzyme is obtained by fermenting fruit and vegetable wastes. This alternative method of biological recovery of organic waste may provide a solution to waste minimization and reduction since a large proportion of municipal solid waste consists of food waste. A study was conducted to assess the implementation of garbage enzyme making and usage as an initiative to reduce the amount of municipal solid waste generated by a hawker community. It was found that practical values, communal spirit and awareness of environmental consequences were among the factors that encourage the practice of garbage enzyme making, while ignorance, time and convenience factors hinder garbage enzyme making and usage. Taking these factors into consideration, municipalities could promote garbage enzyme as a viable method in reducing the amount of MSW generated.