PETALING JAYA: All commercial organisations and institutions as well as industries have to separate their waste at source starting Aug 1.
Housing and Local Government Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohammad Mentek said offenders would be fined under the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007.
“This would help the government to increase the rate of separation of waste at source and determine the volume of recyclable materials collected,“ he said after launching the Fifth Waste Management Association of Malaysia Annual Conference today.
He said the new regulation would only apply to states that have adopted the Act.
“It is necessary for all states to adopt the Act to standardise the solid waste management and so far only seven states adopt the Act,“ he said. “They are Perlis, Kedah, Negri Sembilan, Malacca, Johor, Pahang and Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.”
Under Act 672, households that failed to separate waste at source could be fined. The penalty for the offence for a landed property is between RM50 and RM500. For high-rise premises, it is between RM100 and RM500.
Mohammad Mentek added that the neighbourhood recycling men, who collect old newspapers and other recyclable materials, must register with the ministry.
Waste Management Association of Malaysia chairman Ho De Leong said separation of waste should start at home.
“While it takes policy enforcement and multilateral cooperation between international governments to address this issue, everybody has a role to play,“ he said. “Recycling is the first and crucial step that everyone should adhere to in their own homes.”
In May, Housing and Local Government Minister, Zuraida Kamaruddin, said her ministry is looking to amend the Local Government Act 1976 (Act 171) to increase the compound fines for errant operators to up to RM500, 000 from the current RM300.
