Parliament: Eight Million Tonnes Of Waste Collected In 10 Years.

Malaysia’s controlled waste reached a staggering eight million tonnes from 2000 to May 2010, the Dewan Rakyat was told Wednesday.

Deputy minister of Rural and Regional Development Tan Sri Joseph Kurup said there are 77 types of waste collected which can be divided into five categories.

Among them are acid and alkaline, gypsum batteries, chemical waste, clinical waste, biodegradable waste, electronic waste, biomedical waste, commercial waste, hazardous waste, household waste, organic waste, industrial waste, hydrocarbon, residual waste, etc.

“These controlled waste collected will be sent to waste disposal and management plants for scheduled disposal,” said Joseph Kurup when answering a question by William Leong Jee Keen (PKR-Selayang) who wanted to know the amount of waste generated and disposed in the country for the said period.

Joseph Kurup said as of October this year, 353 premises have been issued licences for the purpose of disposing waste using incinerators, landfills or recycle plants while 297 licences were issued for collecting and transporting waste.

Waste management practices differ for developed and developing nations, for urban and rural areas, and for residential and industrial producers.

-Bernama-