THE national recycling rate increased to 33.17% this year, with the total amount of recycled goods reaching 4.626 million tonnes.

Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation chairman Rizalman Mokhtar said the increase was in line with the 12th Malaysia Plan’s target of reaching a 40% recycling rate by 2025.

“The Housing and Local Government Ministry is drafting a solid management policy towards a circular economy that emphasises the practice of ‘Sustainable Consumption and Production’.

“We are working towards a more efficient solid waste management that can reduce the increasing cost of solid waste management, as well as reduce the negative impact on society and the environment,” he said in his speech at the 3R Family Appreciation Ceremony in conjunction with the National Recycling Day 2022 in Arau last night.

He said the ministry was also in the process of developing the framework for the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the country.

EPR is a basic approach for solid waste management by placing the responsibility of managing post-consumer products on producers.

He added that the implementation of EPR will reduce the government’s burden for the financial needs of waste management. – Bernama, December 4, 2022.