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Municipal solid waste management in Malaysia: practices and challenges

Manaf LA, Samah MA, Zukki NI

Waste Manag, 2009 Nov;29(11):2902-6.
PMID: 19540745 DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2008.07.015

Rapid economic development and population growth, inadequate infrastructure and expertise, and land scarcity make the management of municipal solid waste become one of Malaysia's most critical environmental issues. The study is aimed at evaluating the generation, characteristics, and management of solid waste in Malaysia based on published information. In general, the per capita generation rate is about 0.5-0.8 kg/person/day in which domestic waste is the primary source. Currently, solid waste is managed by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, with the participation of the private sector. A new institutional and legislation framework has been structured with the objectives to establish a holistic, integrated, and cost-effective solid waste management system, with an emphasis on environmental protection and public health. Therefore, the hierarchy of solid waste management has given the highest priority to source reduction through 3R, intermediate treatment and final disposal.
Fulltext Composting of rice straw with effective microorganisms (EM) and its influence on compost quality

Jusoh ML, Manaf LA, Latiff PA

Iranian J Environ Health Sci Eng, 2013 Feb 07;10(1):17.
PMID: 23390930 DOI: 10.1186/1735-2746-10-17

This study aims to assess the effect of EM application on the composting process of rice straw with goat manure and green waste and to evaluate the quality of both compost treatments. There are two treatment piles in this study, in which one pile was applied with EM and another pile without EM. Each treatment was replicated three times with 90 days of composting duration. The parameters for the temperature, pH, TOC and C/N ratio, show that decomposition of organic matter occurs during the 90-day period. The t-test conducted shows that there is a significant difference between compost with EM and compost without EM. The application of EM in compost increases the macro and micronutrient content. The following parameters support this conclusion: compost applied with EM has more N, P and K content (P
Fulltext An integrated methodology for establishing industrial effluent limits in developing countries: Iran as a case study

Mahjouri M, Ishak MB, Torabian A, Manaf LA, Halimoon N

J Environ Health Sci Eng, 2018 Dec;16(2):181-192.
PMID: 30728990 DOI: 10.1007/s40201-018-0306-6

Background: Environmental policies should be developed in a contextual decision-making process regarding local environmental concerns emphasizing the economic, technical, social and institutional considerations. Establishing emission limit levels, especially in the industrial sector, is one of the most problematic environmental issues in developing countries, for which it is essential to include several criteria that reflect their country-specific constraints and capacities. Since Best Available Technology (BAT) is acknowledged to be the reference element for sustainable development and a basis for Emissions Limit Values (ELVs), the objective of this study is to present a reliable methodology for establishing ELVs thresholds with an emphasis on the BAT concept for national regulation at the sector level.
Methods: A hybrid fuzzy multiple-criteria decision-making (FMCDM) process, consisting of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (fuzzy TOPSIS) method, is structured to aggregate the different criteria and rank different ELV alternatives in this complicated evaluation. In order to use the most profound knowledge and judgment of a professional expert team, this qualitative assessment highlights the importance of supportive information.
Results: The results obtained indicate that experts have considered the country-specific information as a reliable reference in their decisions. Among different key evaluation criteria in effluent standard setting, the highest experts' priority is "Environmental protection". For both the conventional and toxic pollutants, the influence of all other criteria namely "Economic feasibility", "Technology viability" and "Institutional capacity", as constraining criteria in developing countries, have not reduced the responsibility towards the environmental objectives. In ELVs ranking, experts have made their decisions with respect to the specific characteristics of each pollutant and the existing capacities and constraints of the country, without emphasizing on any specific reference.
Conclusions: This systematic and transparent approach has resulted in defensible country-specific ELVs for the Iron and Steel industry, which can be developed for other sectors. As the main conclusion, this paper demonstrates that FMCDM is a robust tool for this comprehensive assessment especially regarding the data availability limitations in developing countries.
Health risk assessment of metals in mud crab (Scylla serrata) from the East Java Estuaries of Indonesia

Soegianto A, Wahyuni HI, Yulianto B, Manaf LA

Environ Toxicol Pharmacol, 2022 Feb;90:103810.
PMID: 35033685 DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2022.103810

Metals accumulating in mud crab from Indonesia's East Java estuaries have been assessed for potential health effects. Mud crabs from the Solo River estuary (JS) had the highest levels of all metals tested when compared to mud crabs from the Brantas River estuary (MS) and the Banyuwangi coastal area (BS). Metal accumulation in mud crabs occurred in the following order: Zn > Cu > Cr > Pb > Cd > Hg. The estimated weekly intake values for all metals from all stations were less than the provisional tolerable weekly intake requirement. Similarly, all metal target hazard quotient values from all stations were less than one, suggesting that all metals were within the allowable intake limit. The target cancer risk values for Cd and Cr, on the other hand, were somewhat higher than 10-4, indicating that they were dangerous for human ingestion and possibly linked to a risk associated with carcinogenic agent exposure over a lifetime.