COVER FEATURE
INGENIEUR
Plastic Waste Management : Transition to a Circular Economy
By Assoc . Prof . Ir . Dr Umi Fazara Md Ali , Assoc . Prof . Ts . Dr Siti Khadijah Za ’ aba Faculty of Chemical Engineering Technology & Center for Energy Management and Sustainable Campus ( COSCEM ) Universiti Malaysia Perlis ( UniMAP )
Ts . Dr Al Amin Mohamed Sultan Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka ( UTeM )
Khairul Anuar Ahmad Petronas Chemical Group Bhd ( PCHEM )
Best practices in waste management support economic growth and societal wellbeing by enabling a clean , resilient , productive , and sustainable environment . However , today ’ s world economies are dominated by a linear approach in the way products are manufactured , used , and disposed of . This means manufacturers extract natural resources , process them into products and packaging , then sell the products to consumers who ultimately dispose of them . That is reflective of our society which is very linear in adopting the “ take-make-use-dispose ” approach . It is not sustainable financially or environmentally sound and it is a missed opportunity as valuable materials are thrown away . Fortunately , there is a solution ; it ’ s called the circular economy . In a circular economy , there is minimal waste ; we reduce what we don ’ t need and reuse what we do need . By moving to a circular economy for waste management , Malaysia could capture an estimated RM900 million annually in lost value which corresponds to 2.3 million tonnes of recycled materials going to landfills [ 1 ].
Emerging threats due to the unchecked linear economy growth model subscribed by Malaysia since the 1900s are causing an adverse impact encompassing environmental and social spheres .
Malaysia has started to address plastic pollution through the circular economy approach which eliminates the production of unnecessary plastic products , shifting to alternative materials and circular design , thus extending the life of products through reuse , repair , resell and finally recycling discarded products back into the production phase [ 2 ]. As a result , recent trends in waste management in Malaysia exhibit a substantial increase in the rate of recovery and recycling of plastic wastes . The National Recycling Rate to date is 30.67 %, which is a 2.61 % increase from 2019 . By 2025 , the Ministry of Housing and Local Government ( KPKT ) is targeting to achieve a 40 % National Recycling Rate [ 3 , 4 ].
LINEAR ECONOMY VS CIRCULAR ECONOMY
In the linear economy model , a resource from nature is exploited for wealth creation without any consideration of regeneration and post-use sustainable waste management . For example , in the logging industry , valuable resources from the natural environment are taken for granted as if they are unlimited and forever replenishable
16 VOL 87 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2021