THE
BIN THAT REMAINS IGNORED : WHY RECYCLING CAMPAIGNS OFTEN FAIL IN MALAYSIA?
Introduction
Are you aware that solid
waste generation in the country was at 15.2 million tonnes in 2024,
and it is expected to increase to 15.38 million tonnes in 2025 and 17.03
million tonnes by 2035, according to Housing and Local Government Minister (KPKT) Nga
Kor Ming on Dec 5 last year ? (Benjamin Lee, 2025) and At present, the
recycling rate stands at 37.9%, as announced by the Ministry of Housing and
Local Government (KPKT), for 2024 (Aufa Mardhiah, 2025).
These figures highlights an alarming question of How despite all of the campaigning efforts, Education involvement and regulation creation we as a country still struggle to grasp this concept of Recycling and reducing waste while our neighbours are doing so much better than we are ? in this blog I would like to highlight several key factors that contributes to this question.
1)Lack
of Infrastructure
To further elaborate on my point with my observation as a resident, I find
the absence of recycling bins around my housing area is significant. This is
because not only that I was unable to locate recycling bins around my street
but it is very rarely seen even in the public area of the state. For instance,
if you walk through the state of Penang, most of the time the trash bins that
you will stumble upon are either a black or a green bin. This is proof that the
lack of infrastructure is a real issue that needs to be tackled.
Photo taken from Alamy
2) Most Recycling Campaigns are not Consumer
centric
Whenever a recycling campaign is published in our country,
it will mostly just enforce the regulation and state that if the regulations are
not followed you will be fined. I believe that what the Germans are doing is
much more efficient than the practices that we currently follow. For example,
in Germany, a bottle can be dropped into a recycling machine and it will reward
the person who recycled. By implementing a reward system, it has a high possibility
of increasing the recycling rate of our country. With this new suggested system,
consumers now have an incentive if they recycle.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, I believe that there are various ways that all of us should contribute
to making Malaysia a cleaner and safer country. With that being said, I believe
tackling the issue of infrastructure with a revised strategy on recycling
campaigns may bring more knowledge and improvement for times to come.
Author: Zameer Arshad
Student ID :25101119
Course: Degree In Management (Marketing)(Honors)
Subject: JUE 200/2 English 1
References/Sources
- https://www.skrine.com/insights/alerts/october-2021/highlights-of-the-twelfth-malaysia-plan#:~:text=Whilst%20it%20builds%20on%20the,National%20Recovery%20Plan%20(NRP).&text=Policies%20under%20the%2012MP%20are,advancing%20sustainability.
- https://asianews.network/surge-in-recycling-in-malaysia-drowned-out-by-rising-tide-of-trash/#:~:text=ALSO%20READ:%20Landfills%20to%20hit,recycling%20centres%20and%20collection%20points.%E2%80%9D
- https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Malaysia-transformation-of-solid-waste-management-policies-and-plans_tbl1_344413079
-https://themalaysianreserve.com/2025/01/20/alam-flora-drives-malaysias-recycling-revolution/
- https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2023/08/05/recycling-habit-needs-a-boost
