Domestic Solid Waste Minimization in Malaysia-A

Behavioural Study
Jayashree Sreenivasan, Govindan Marthandan and Chinnasamy Agamudai Nambi
Malarvizhi
Abstract
The rapid growth in population and change in life style
has increased the household wastes throughout the world and there
has been a clarion call towards minimising the waste. Despite the
number of existing strategies, and procedures employed in different
parts of the world for waste minimization, the core problem lies in
minimising the waste at an early stage rather than dealing with the
problem after the waste is generated. Malaysia is also facing similar
problems with a drastic increase in municipal waste generation
seeking for an urgent remedy to manage its waste disposal efficiently
if it is keen to safeguard its environment from damaging effects.
Hence it is highly essential to understand the waste minimisation
behaviour which acts as a pillar for sustainable waste management.
So a research on household behaviour towards waste minimisation
will be very helpful. Hence, this research aims at studying the impact
of Education, promotion, knowledge, awareness and reference group
on the intention to minimize waste which will lead to a changed
behaviour of individuals on waste minimization in Malaysia. The
moderating role of technology and governments influence on the
intentions leading towards a changed behaviour will also measured.
To test the model a sample of 300 households from all nine districts
of Selangor State will be selected. Since this model requires analysis
in more than one stage, the structured equation model(SEM) will be
used. The developed model will then be recommended to other
states for their adoption with necessary changes. Field of
Research:Waste Management.

1.Introduction
Make less, buy less, use less, throw away less - Akkiko Busch
The rapid growth in population and change in life style has increased the household
wastes and throughout the world and there has been a clarion call towards
minimising the waste. Despite the number of existing strategies, technologies and
procedures employed in different parts of the world for waste management, the core
problem lies in the waste minimisation, rather than dealing with the problem after the
waste is generated. Malaysia is also facing similar problems with a drastic increase in
municipal waste generation seeking for an urgent remedy to manage its waste
disposal efficiently if it is to safeguard its environment from damaging effects.
______________________________________________________________
Dr Sreenivasan Jayashree, Faculty of Management,Multimedia University,
email:jayashree@mmu.edu.my
Dr Govindan marthandan, Faculty of Management, Multimedia University,
email:marthandan@mmu.edu.my
Dr Chinnasamy Agamudai Nambi Malarvizhi,Faculty of Management,Multimedia University,
email:malarvizhi@mmu.edu.my

Background of study
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Waste as something which the
owner no longer wants at a given time and space and which has no current or
perceived market value. This line of thought represented a broad- based approach
towards the classification of what constitutes waste. Every household activity results
in solid waste generation and it is becoming more and more acute in the current
technology- driven days. Even though methods, procedures and policies are
mandated to reuse and recycle, there exists a gap when it comes to practical reality.
Hence, solid waste management is a major priority issue all over the world(Sheeba
and Mohd,2007).Solid waste management covers the issues in the control of waste
generation, storage, collection, segregate, transfer and transport, processing and
disposal of solid wastes(SW) consistent with the best practices of public health,
social, legal, political and environmental considerations. In Malaysia, it is the job of
the respective municipal council to collect, transport and dispose the domestic solid
wastes. In line with this, the municipal councils spend their time and energy to devise
methods adopting new and innovative technology solutions to effectively minimise
the domestic solid wastes. Waste shall mean any substance or object in the
categories set out in which the holder discards or intends or is required to
discard(Pongrcz et al 2004).Waste is anything that does not add value to the end
user and something for which the customer is not willing to pay. The objective is to
maximize the proportion of value added activities, while removing waste and
reducing incidental wasteful activities. The occurrence of waste can be postponed by
extending the life of a product by innovating some valuable usage at its end-oflifecycle stage. A waste becomes a new product if it finds a consumer and thus,
generation of waste can be minimized by prolonging the deliverable age of a
product(Ramani, et al 2011).
Rapid economic and population growth continues to contribute to the burden of solid
waste disposal leading to a serious threat to the society. In the recent decade there
has been a raising public conciousness globally which is evident from increasing
awareness on waste generation and minimization. The Waste Management
Hierarchy (minimization, recovery and transformation, and land disposal) has been
adopted by many industrialized nations for developing solid waste management
strategies depending on the topography, population density, transportation
infrastructure, socioeconomic and environmental regulations (Sakai,1996).The
simplest and most effective way of dealing with wastes is to ensure that it does not
get generated at the first place. Many of the past research focus on waste
minimization and reduction in industries and commerce. Hence this research
proposes to focus on the solid waste minimisation from the household perspective In
Selangor state. Selangor has the largest population in Malaysia at 5,411,324 as of
2010.

Waste Management- The Malaysian Scenario

Concurrent with the rapid economic growth and the rise in population, Malaysia, like
the rest of the developing world is in a quandary when comes to managing its solid
and industrial waste. At present per capita generation in Peninsular Malaysia is
approximately 1.2kg of municipal waste(MSW) which amounts to 19,000 tones of
waste per day and the figure is set to rise to 30,000 tons daily by 2020, in tandem
with the population growth. Looking at the statistics above, it is obvious that Malaysia
has no option other than managing its waste disposal efficiently and immediately if it
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is to safeguard its environment from damaging effects or from contributing to global

warming(Syed, 2010).With the increase in municipal waste generation from 5.6
million tons in 1997 up to 8.0 million tons, there is an urgent need for a better
managed disposal option(Fauziah,2005).The total tonnage of domestic waste,
bulky/garden, cleansing waste and illegal dumping in few states are listed in table 1.
Table -1 Waste generation in select states(Tons) Source: Alam Flora
State
2007
2008
2009
Kuala Lumpur
685,031
762,242
755,873
Selangor
1,083,410
1,101,658
1,131,791
Pahang
182,637
188,515
205,419
TOTAL
1,951,078
2,052,414
2,093,083

Problem Statement and Research Gap

To be precise, Selangor state of Malaysia had generated approaximately 1.13 Million
tons of solid and household wastes in 2009 and it had spent around RM330 millions
per month for all activities related to collection, transportation and disposal of
household solid wastes. This brings the need to manage the waste effectively and
efficiently to reduce the cost of operation. Even though, there are a number of
strategies, technologies, procedures etc employed in different parts of the world, the
core problem lies in waste minimization, rather than dealing with the problem after
the waste is generated. Understanding waste minimization behavior is the base for
sustainable waste management. So a research on household behavior focusing on
cognitive psychology will help to reduce the solid wastes. Hence this research
proposes to focus on the impact of education, promotion, knowledge, awareness and
reference group on the intention to minimize waste which will lead to a changed
behaviour of individuals towards waste minimization in Malaysia. The cost of waste
management will be the minimum when the volume of waste disposed is also
minimum.Less volume of waste contributes to less health hazards, less
environmental pollution and requires less land for disposal. The only option to have
less waste is waste minimisation. Waste minimization programmes have to be
undertaken at household level for the household wastes. Lack of a proper disposal of
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) into landfills in Malaysia not only creates a conducive
environment for pests like flies, rats and others but also pollutes the ecosystem which
has evoked the researchers to identify a suitable model for Solid Waste Minimization
(Fauziah and Agamuthu,2007).With the advent of a very fast development in
industrialization, Malaysia is in a dire need to have a very efficient waste
management strategy. The Increase in the per capita income, mushrooming urban
areas and rural-urban migration and the changing patterns evidenced in the
consumption behavior altogether has led to increased waste generation in Malaysia
(Fauziah, Simon and Agamuthu,2004).The proper waste minimization efforts within a
household depends on various criteria like education, promotion, knowledge,
awareness and influence of the reference groups. There is lack of awareness about
waste minimization and not much research has been done in Malaysian context.
Hence this research is aiming at contributing a unique model for waste minimization
in Malaysia.

Research Questions
What constitutes the household solid waste, the volume and the handling of
the same?
What is the relationship between education,promotion,knowledge,awareness,
and reference group on the intention to minimize waste?
Does knowledge and awareness mediate the relationship between education
and promotion with intention to minimize waste?
Does intention to minimise waste mediate the relationship between
education,promotion,knowledge,awareness,and reference group in bringing
changed behaviour on waste minimization?
How does technological advancement and government influence moderate
the relationship between intention to minimize waste and change behaviour on
waste minimization.

Objectives of the Research

To come out with a comprehensive waste audit of households in Selangor
State (identifying types and volumes of waste produced and the fate of those
wastes)
To find out the relationship between promotion,knowledge,awareness, and
reference group on the intention to minimize waste
To analyse how knowledge and awareness mediate the relationship between
education and promotion with intention to minimize waste
To determine how intention to minimise waste mediate the relationship
between education,promotion,knowledge,awareness,and reference group in
bringing changed behaviour on waste minimization
To investigate how technological advancement and government influence
moderate the relationship between intention to minimize waste and change
behaviour on waste minimization

2. Literature Review
Waste production may be because of inefficiencies in production and management
process which are due to lack of Knowledge (Janette et al., 2008).Businesses which
were keen on waste minimization procedures had considerably reduced the cost of
production and thereby increased their profits. Prevention and reduction of waste by
introducing appropriate measures have attracted the attention of many researchers
(Peter Glaric,1996).
Kulatunga et al.,(2006) and others in their research evaluated the attitudes and
perceptions of the construction workforce involved during the pre- and post-contract
stages towards minimising waste. The findings indicate the positive perceptions and
attitudes of the construction workforce towards minimising waste and conserving
natural resources. Some of the current waste reduction promotion/publicity material,
and the education and information policies provided by Local Authorities, evaluating
their effectiveness, and identifying any loopholes or omissions exist in public
awareness(Tom and Adam, 2001).
The need for better understanding of the complexity of concerns are based not only
on risk perceptions but also on lack of trust and credibility in waste managers,
decision-makers, and the decision processes and control mechanisms for waste
facility and operation. Attitudes, awareness and practices in London regarding the
4

waste minimisation provides an account of research undertaken concerning the first

of the aims, focusing, in particular, on management attitudes, awareness and
practices in waste/energy minimisation (Judith, 1994).
The research on waste minimisation had identified several factors which when
implemented would directly as well as indirectly improve the quality.(Rawshaw Ara
Begum et al 2006). Extending producer responsibility and helping behaviour
changes by business through information, advice and awareness raising are the
important elements to be considered while framing the waste minimisation policies
(Thomas Coskeran et al 2006). Businesses continue to generate excessive waste
and ignore the consequential costs to the environment.This is because of lack of
incentive to adopt waste minimisation policies (Thomas Coskeran et al 2005).Good
housekeeping, input material change, better process control, equipment modification,
technology change and product modification contribute to the waste reduction (Rene
Van Berkel, 2002).
Cognitive psychological modelling can provide the means to identify the driving
forces behind recycling and waste minimisation behaviour and in a given area
determine the main success factors (Michele Tonglet et al 2004). In contrast to the
significant developments with industrial waste minimisation, municipal waste
minimisation has been relatively neglected until quite recently. There have been
programmes to drive recycling behaviour not minimisation.
For waste minimisation in food and drink industry, he food producers must give
greater priority to reducing raw material wastage and to identifying the process
options that result in a lower waste burden (Katherine Hyde et al, 2000)Kristina and
et al analysed and compared the levels of environmental awareness and the
elements of personal awareness in Czech and Finnish companies.Waste production
may be because of inefficiencies in production and management process which are
due to lack of Knowledge (Janette et al., 2008). Prevention and reduction of waste by
introducing appropriate measures have attracted the attention of many researchers
(Glaric, 1996).Unattended solid waste gives rise to unsanitary conditions especially in
densely populated areas.
Kulatunga et al., (2006) and others in their research evaluated the attitudes and
perceptions of the workforce involved during the pre- and post-contract stages
towards minimising waste. The findings indicate the positive perceptions and
attitudes of the workforce towards minimising waste and conserving natural
resources. Some of the current waste reduction promotion/publicity material, and the
education and information policies provided by Local Authorities, evaluate their
effectiveness, and identify any loopholes or omissions that exist in bringing public
awareness (Tom and Adam, 2001).The need for better understanding of the
complexity of concerns are based not only on risk perceptions but also on lack of
trust and credibility in waste managers, decision-makers, and the decision processes
and control mechanisms for waste facility and operation. Attitudes, awareness and
practices in London regarding the waste minimisation provides an account of
research undertaken concerning the management attitudes, awareness and
practices in waste/energy minimisation (Judith, 1994).Theory of planned behaviour
helps to investigate the factors which influence behavioural choice in a systematic
way and the theory hypothesizes that the immediate determinant of behaviour is the
intention of the individual to perform or not to perform that behaviour. Intentions are
influenced by attitude, the subjective norm, the individuals perception of social
pressure to perform or not to perform the behaviour and the perceived control, the
5

individuals perception of social pressure to perform or not to perform the behaviour.

External factors like personality, past experience and demographic characteristics,
may also influence behaviour, indirectly mediated through the components of the
model (Ajzen,1991).
Knowledge Management (KM) schools of thought sees the KM in different
perspectives and the most important one being the community of practice which
describes a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession. The
group which is here considered as family or reference group has common interest in
a particular domain or area, or it can be created specifically with the goal of gaining
knowledge related to their field. It is through the process of sharing information and
experiences with the group that the members learn from each other, and have an
opportunity to develop themselves personally and professionally (Wikipedia, 2010).

3.Methodology
The research falls within the preview of social science research paradigm. Theory of
planned behaviour and Knowledge management theory were considered in building
the research model and a thorough review of literature will be done and the project
team will liaise directly with the concerned local authorities and the ministries to get
relevant information about the waste management policies and practices in Malaysia.
This will provide a useful insight into the actual policies, practices, procedures and
strategies that are in practice. Figure 1 depicts the proposed research model in this
study. Education and promotion, knowledge and awareness and reference group are
the independent variables. The mediating effect of knowledge and awareness as well
as intention to minimize waste are also studied. The moderating role of technological
advancement and government influence in influencing the relationship between
intention to minimize waste and changed behaviour on waste minimization are also
studied.

Figure-1 :Proposed Research Model

6

Sampling Design
The research will be conducted in all nine districts of Selangor State in Malaysia. The
model developed will then be recommended to other states for their adoption with
necessary changes. The research is planned as a cross-sectional survey consisting
of households of Selangor State only.

Sampling Technique
The households will be categorized according to the races and a proportionate
random sampling will be done from all nine districts of Selangor viz., Gombak, Hulu
Langat, Hulu Selangor, Klang, Kuala Langat, Kaula Selangor, Petaling Jaya, Sabak
Bernam and Sepang. It is proposed to collect the data from around 300 households
representing Malay, Chinese, Indian and other nationals. The state's ethnic
composition consists of Malay 52.9%, Chinese 27.8%, Indian 13.3%, and other
ethnic groups 6%.

Data Collection
A questionnaire-based survey will be the best approach to obtain information about
current levels of education, promotion, knowledge, awareness, reference group,
intention and changed behavioural practices on waste minimization in sample
households in Selangor state. A questionnaire will be designed to cover all these
variables considered for study. The questionnaire will also have a series of openended questions concerning barriers to waste and its minimisation.The data collected
through the questionnaire will be subjected to a number of checks to be performed at
various stages to ensure the quality of data and the quality of the data input process.
The analysis of data will result in (i) summary statistics of key individual variables; (ii)
summary statistics for scores representing awareness, attitudes and practices; (iii)
correlations between key individual variables and scores representing awareness,
attitudes and practices. (iv) the coefficients and their significance in the multi-criteria
decision model.

4.Findings
The data collected through the questionnaire will be subject to a number of checks to
be performed at various stages to ensure the quality of data and the quality of the
data input process. Analysis of the data from the questionnaire will be done using
Structural Equation Model(SEM).SEM provides a more rigorous analysis than simple
factor analysis,regression analysis or multivariate analysis of variance(Gefen et al
2000)when the data is multidimensional(hair 1998).SEM also provides tests for
statistical conclusion validity (Gefen et al 2000) and parsimony (Hair 1998). The
descriptive statistics, and path analysis will form the core analysis. Any additional
analysis required to test the model will also be performed at the appropriate levels.

5. Conclusion
Malaysia is lagging behind many countries as far as environmental issues are
concerned. Many existing practices leave adverse impact and not much has been
done to rectify due to the heavy cost involved in the process, lack of awareness and
technology availability. The scenario becomes even more difficult when there is lack
of local research with adequate data. Hence this research addresses this gap and
7

the researchers believe that a comprehensive model suitable for Malaysia can be
developed successfully. Since there is a great need to improve the waste
minimization efforts, the research will receive greater attention leading towards a
better understanding about the intention and changed behaviour of the Malaysian
citizens. Beneficiaries of the research will be Malaysian public, the municipal
councils, Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Ministry of Health Malaysia and
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

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