Solid waste separation programme begins tomorrow

PETALING JAYA: Effective tomorrow (Sept 1), all households and business owners from eight states across the nation will be required to separate their waste between recyclables and non-recyclables.
The eight states involve in this initiative are Johor, Pahang, Selangor, Kedah, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Perlis, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. Those who fail to follow this requirement will face penalties under the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleanliness Act 2007 (Act 672).
According to information provided in Solid Waste Corporation’s (SWCorp) website, all the solid waste needs to be separated according to recyclable and residual waste (waste that will be sent to landfill areas).
“To ensure the separation of solid waste is carried out effectively; each household and business owner must separate their recyclable items in separate transparent plastic bags while regular waste such as food and organic waste can be placed into plastic bags.
“For recyclable waste that has been isolated such as paper, plastic and other recycled material, it will be collected once a week while the residual waste will be collected twice a week and all the collection will be done by the concessionaire appointed by the government,” the website states.
The websites pointed out that the objective of this separation activity is to ensure the disposal of recyclable materials, reducing the amount of solid waste being sent to landfill area and reduce the allocation of money to the state solid waste disposal process.
SWCorp chief executive director Ab Rahim Md Noor said notices will be issued to those who violate the rule with a maximum compound of RM1,000 imposed on errant households beginning 2016.