30,000 metric tonnes of rubbish discarded daily

Malaysians last year discarded up to about 33,000 metric tonnes of rubbish on a daily basis, resulting in the government spending about RM1.2 billion in rubbish collection. Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Deputy Minister Datuk Halimah Mohd Sadique said this figure was initially the projection for 2020. However, it had come true seven years early, she said. She said in large cities like Kuala Lumpur, the average amount of rubbish from one person last year was 1.25kg daily. The national average was 0.8kg of rubbish from each person per day. "It is now at a critical stage because on the average, each individual should produce not more than 0.8kg of rubbish per day," she told reporters after launching the Vehicle Anti-Litter Campaign here today. Halimah said the increasing amount of rubbish would have an effect on the cost of managing the solid wastes as landfill areas were limited while wastes were increasing. She said rubbish management practices among residents was also at a low level, with only 10 per cent recycling their wastes. "We expect the rate of recycling to increase to 22 per cent by 2020," she added. However, Halimah said unlike other countries, the government had no intention of imposing a fine or tighter enforcement on individuals who randomly threw rubbish. "It is more important to create awareness on the right manner of managing rubbish and have a lifestyle where cleanliness takes priority," she noted. The cleanliness campaign, organised by the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation and held in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year 2014, was aimed at educating road users not to throw rubbish from their vehicles everywhere. The ongoing programme will be extended to other states, with the cooperation of various government agencies.