Ingenieur Vol.82 April-June2020 | Page 28

INGENIEUR Table 1: First Schedule of the Environmental Quality (SW) Regulations 2005 Groups Items Categories 1 Metal and metal-bearing waste 10 2 Wastes containing principally inorganic constituents which may contain metals and organic materials 3 Wastes containing principally organic constituents which may contain metals and inorganic materials 4 Wastes which may contain either inorganic or organic constituents 5 Other wastes 1 7 27 32 generation, transportation, and treatment prior to disposal. The regulations ensure that generated SW are directed to, and actually reach, a permitted disposal site. At the “cradle” stage, the SW is created. The waste generator is responsible for SW identification and notification to the DoE. It should be noted that Regulations 1987 requests generator to reduce the amount of SW generated via various possible means (including treatment and/or recovery of valuable components in SW) and only the residuals should be sent to the prescribed disposal premises. It is also the responsibility of the waste generators to ensure proper delivery and receipt of the generated SW at the next destination, that is, prescribed premises for treatment, disposal or recovery, with proper packaging and labelling. In this case, the generator of SW can no longer avoid the associated liability by hiring a third party for waste disposal. This compels the generator to exercise care in the selection of the disposal service provider. Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd was granted the exclusive right to operate the SW disposal premise from 1995 to 2015. At the ‘grave’ stage, the collected SW will be either treated first or directly disposed to secure landfills. However, a growing environmental concern among the stakeholders and public is noticed due to the increasing land requirements for SW disposal, environmental problems associated with the secure landfills and wastage of potential resources in SW which could be reused. The DOE encourages a new paradigm shift in SW management from Cradle-to-Grave to Cradle-to-Cradle approach, with the intention to reduce the amount of waste disposed at secure landfills. The waste management company or the waste generator could also develop a competitive edge through conversion of waste to wealth and utilisation of waste as resources. In addition, the paradigm shift also leads to generation of a national economy as stated in the SW Management Strategic Plan Post-2015 (Pelan Strategik Pengurusan Buangan Terjadual Pasca 2015). HW Generation HW Transportation by DOE Registered Contractors HW Disposal at Prescribed Premises Figure 1: Cradle-to-Grave Approach 26 VOL 82 APRIL-JUNE 2020