Mohd Bakri Ishak

Waste Minimization Benefits and Obstacles for Solid Industrial Wastes in Malaysia

Moving toward a sustainable industrial activity requires an effective waste management that is applicable and efficient for all different types of industrial wastes .Waste minimization as the most acceptable option in waste management hierarchy, has a significant contribution in minimizing the solid wastes generated by manufacturing industries. The absence of appropriate policy, lack of awareness and information ,inadequate guidelines , limited time , lack of cooperation and application of old technologies such as end of pipe approaches are the common obstructive factors towards practicing efficient waste minimization by industries. The study was conducted to review and analyze the practical waste minimization methodologies and its characteristics based on the industrial activities. In addition the obstacles which hold up industries from practicing waste minimization efficiently were determined. Thus this study suggest the effective practices for improving waste minimization which suitable for manufacturing industries in Malaysia.

Evaluation Approach in the Practice of Sustainability from Cultural Landscape Perspective: A Case Study of Masjid Kampung Kling, Malacca

The purpose of this paper is to view sustainability practice from the perspective of cultural landscape by looking at Masjid Kampung Kling, Malacca. The selected mosque is a traditional building gazetted under National Antiquity Act (2005) and is located within the area of UNESCO World Heritage Site. A qualitative case study was used in uncovering the practice of sustainability. The cultural landscape approach has guided the study by questioning the meanings embedded within the traditional mosque’s features thus providing a new angle of viewing the landscape as a social expression of symbols, icons, and metaphors. Concepts of sustainability and cultural landscape were reviewed for acquiring the sense of connection with each other. As for evidence, data was collected from several series of observation and interviews. Masjid Kampung Kling can be seen as a sub-cosmic from an enormous multi-culture of Malacca. Findings from the study suggested that the mosque has the portrayal of practical sustainability practice by both the contextual mean and testimonial proof. The sustainability practice can be viewed from three significance values of cultural landscape of the mosque namely (1) history (2) architecture and (3) archaeology. Current management should recognise Masjid Kampung Kling and other traditional mosques in general, for having the potential to present sustainability from cultural landscape perspective. Though Masjid Kampung Kling is already known as tourist attraction, concept improvement in the context of tourism will definitely add more values especially for academic and learning purpose.

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.

Toward sustainable solid waste minimization by manufacturing firms in Malaysia: strengths and weaknesses

Malaysia is facing an increasing trend in industrial solid waste generation due to industrial development. Thus, there is a paramount need in taking practical actions and measurements to move toward sustainable industrial waste management. The main aim of this study is to assess practicing solid waste minimization by manufacturing firms. Analysis showed that majority of firms (92%) dispose of their wastes rather than utilize other sustainable waste management options. Also, waste minimization methods such as segregation of wastes, on-site recycle and reuse, improved housekeeping, and equipment modification were found to have significant contribution to waste reduction (p < 0.05). Lack of expertise (M = 3.50), lack of enough information (M = 3.54), lack of equipment modification (M = 3.16), and lack of specific waste minimization guidelines (M = 3.49) have higher mean score comparing with other barriers in different categories. These data were interpreted for elaborating on SWOT and TOWS (strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities) matrix to highlight strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities. Subsequently, ten policies were recommended for improvement of practicing waste minimization by manufacturing firms as the main objective of this research.

Evaluation of Practicing sustainable Industrial Solid Waste Minimization by Manufacturing Firms in Malaysia: Strengths and Weaknesses

Malaysia is facing an increasing trend in industrial solid waste generation due to industrial development.Thus there is a paramount need in taking a serious action to move toward sustainable industrial waste management. The main aim of this study is to assess practicing solid waste minimization by manufacturing firms in Shah Alam industrial state, Malaysia. This paper presents a series of descriptive and inferential statistical analysis regarding the level and effects of practicing waste minimization methods, and seriousness of barriers preventing industries from practicing waste minimization methods. For this purpose the survey questions were designed such that both quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (semi-structures interview) data were collected concurrently. Analysis showed that, the majority of firms (92%) dispose their wastes rather than practice other sustainable waste management options. Also waste minimization methods such as segregation of wastes, on-site recycle and reuse, improve housekeeping and equipment modification were found to have significant contribution in waste reduction (p<0.05). Lack of expertise (M=3.50), lack of enough information (M= 3.54), lack of equipment modification (M= 3.16) and lack of specific waste minimization guidelines (M=3.49) have higher mean scores comparing with other barriers in different categories. These data were interpreted for elaborating of SWOT and TOWS matrix to highlight strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. Accordingly, ten policies were recommended for improvement of practicing waste minimization by manufacturing firms as the main aim of this research. Implications This manuscript critically analysis waste minimization practices by manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis were conducted to formulate SWOT and TOWS matrix in order to recommend policies and strategies for improvement of solid waste minimization by manufacturing industries. The results contribute to the knowledge and the findings of this study provide a useful baseline information and data on industrial solid waste generation and waste minimization practice.

Exploring the Relationship Among Issues on Awareness in Practicing Waste Minimization (Malaysia)

This study is carried out to identify the level of awareness associated with waste minimization practices and industrial solid waste. It focuses on the issues of ‘lack of awareness and information’ as preventive factors in waste minimization practices by industries in Malaysia. About 30 industries were randomly sampled from the industrial area using a structured questionnaire, and employs severity index and correlation analysis for data analysis. The correlation analysis is used to identify the relationship between issues in this research. Results revealed that the lack of accurate or sufficient knowledge of waste minimization practices is a serious barrier in waste minimization practices among the industries given the severity index value of 64 %. However, the results also show a statistical significant relationship on the lack of accurate or sufficient knowledge and untrained personnel (r = 0.75, p < 0.01), absence of experts (r = 0.66, p < 0.01) and limited technical information (r = 0.61, p < 0.01).

Current Practices of Clinical Waste Management in Private Clinics, Selangor, Malaysia

Clinical waste comes from different sources, including hospitals, clinics, medical and dental surgeries, etc. Clinical waste is potentially dangerous therefore it is important to practice special caution in the handling and management of clinical waste in order to minimize its potential danger to public health or pollution to the environment. Management of clinical waste continues to be a major challenge in most healthcare facilities of the developing world. The definition of clinical waste has historically been used to describe waste produced from healthcare and similar activities that pose a risk of infection or that may prove hazardous. Lack of appropriate legislation, lack of specialized clinical staff and lack of awareness and effective control are the main reasons of the mismanagement of clinical waste in most of the cases. The aim of this study is to determine the clinical waste composition and its management system in private clinics of Selangor, Malaysia. A number of private clinics in Selangor was selected using simple random sampling method for this study. An appropriately designed questionnaire and semi-structured interview used for the purpose of data collection. The quantity of CW generated from most of the private clinic is less than 1 kg/day which would increase the possibility of disposing CW as general waste and at the same time the monitoring of CWM in private clinic is insufficient. The results of this study give a comprehensive understanding of current clinical waste composition and its management system in Selangor and therefore there are rooms for improvement.