GMUL 5063: ETHICS, LAW &

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

PROJECT: ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Topic: Industrial Waste Management

Lecturer: Dr. Mohammad Azam Bin Hussain
Group 3
Nagin Dass A/L Baboo (815932)
Koe Siew Chan (809396)
Bawaani A/P Superiamaniam (815930)
Saravanan A/L Vadivelu (819969)

Presentation
Outline
Literature Review
Objective of our Project Paper
National Environmental Policy
Environmental Laws in Malaysia
Economic importance of industry in Malaysia
The impact of hazardous waste to our Environment

Weaknesses of existing laws

Suggestions for improvement

Conclusion

Introduction

Literature Review
The objective of our project paper
Analyze existing environmental laws and relevant government and non
governmental organization roles and responsibilities in achieving our National
Environmental Policy
The impact of industrial (hazardous) waste management and impact to
environment due to rapid industry growth since 1960
Analyze the effectiveness of hazardous waste management and provide
suggestion for improvements

National Environment Policy

Literature Review

National Environment PolicyPolicy Statement

For Continuous Economic, Social and
Cultural Progress and Enhancement of the
Quality of Life of Malaysians, through
Environmentally Sound and Sustainable
Development

National Environment Policy

Literature Review

National Environment PolicyObjectives

A Clean, safe, healthy and productive
environment for present and future
Conservation of the countrys unique
and diverse cultural and natural
heritage with effective participation by
all sectors of society
Sustainable lifestyles and patterns of
consumption and production

National Environment Policy

Literature Review

National Environment Policy

Literature Review

Environmental Laws
Literature
in MalaysiaReview

Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127)

Fisheries Act 1985
Land Conservation Act 1960
Local Government Act 1979
Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act 1994
National Forestry Act 1984
National Park Act 1980
Plant Quarantine Act 1976
Pesticides Act 1974
. Protection of Wildlife Act 1972
. Radioactive Substance Act 1968
. Sewerage Services Act 1993
. Town and Country Planning Act 1976
. Water Enactment 1920 (Revised) Act 1979
. Sarawak Biodiversity Centre Ordinance 1997
. Sabah Biodiversity Enactment 2000

Environmental Laws
Literature
in MalaysiaReview
Environmental Quality Act (Act 127) came into
force
on April 1974
Federal Enforcement Agency Environment Division (Now
Department of Environment (DoE) was established in 1975.
To prevent, control & abate pollution through enforcement of the EQA
1974
Management
of Hazardous Waste
Milestones
In April 1983 a national committee was set up to finalize the drafting of the
Policy Guidelines on Handling, Storage, Transport and Disposal of
Toxic and Hazardous Wastes
In 1984, DOE proposed the National Strategy for the Management of
Toxic and Hazardous Waste
Regulations were gazetted on 27 April 1989 and came into force on 1 May
1989

Environmental Laws
Literature
in MalaysiaReview
Legislation related to Hazardous Waste
Management

Environmental Laws
Literature
in MalaysiaReview
Fine and imprisonment if convicted

Economic Importance of
Literature
Review
Industry
in Malaysia

Malaysia economic growth main sector

Manufacturing industries (MI)

2014 MI sector disclosed GDP growth 6.2% (RM205

million) vs 3.5% 2013.

Development of MI:- +ve impact & -ve implication

Impact of industry and hazardous

Literature Review
waste
Issue

Problem of hazardous waste management

DOE classified hazardous waste as schedule waste
Issues confront authorities illegal dumping,

increasing request to recover or reuse wastes &

new/emerging contaminated land
Illegal

dumping issue

3 cases (2001) 31 cases (2005) ; mainly paint waste,

mineral oil and dross; Secluded areas avoid detection

Cases Review
Literature
May

2000 at Port Klang; 2 container; Dross

material used in metal galvanizing. Waste origin
was from Seri Kembangan;
Case has been investigated by Custom and Excise

department DOE.
Reason-foreign firms offered RM4,000 per tons of
material dross, while local recycling factories offered
only RM1,200 a ton.

Cases Review
Literature
2004

at Simpang Renggam, Johor; More than

1,000 jumbo bags were found at abandoned bricks
warehouse
Metal Hydroxide sludge from Taiwan illegally import

and storage at Simpang Renggam

Bad portray repute Malaysia as new illegal graves
destination. Toxic substances contained of heavy
metals like zinc, lead, chromium and cadmium.

Cases Review
Literature
Jan

2005 found at an unauthorized site at Sungai

Kandis in Klang, Selangor.
15,000 drums of Sludge and oil waste;
Waste disposal contractor Carbon World Industries is

alleged to have stored the waste for about eight years.

The court case is pending.

Literature
Cases Review

23 June 2006, at an illegal dumping site in Labis, Johor

and two other spots Km 9.75 Jalan Lapis and Km 15
Jalan Yong peng Jln haji Musa
~ 5,000 tons of aluminum dross were buried at the

Kg Sungai gatom and 3,000 tons at the two other

sites;
Aluminum dross, reacts when exposed to rain to
release poisonous ammonia gases; evacuated ~
700 people DOE engaged Kualiti Alam to clean up;
~ cost of about RM 8 million/RM 2 million for waste
treatment.

Statistics illegal waste/ compound

Literature Review

Weakness of existing law

Literature Review
and Practices
Sectorial Approach
The major problem within the legal framework is in its sectorial
approach in managing the environment.
This approach appears to create problems such as leaving certain
grey areas unregulated due to the overlap between existing
government agencies entrusted to manage environmental issues
Locus Standi
Another impediment within the legal framework relates to the strict
rules of standing. Locus standi means place of standing, that is a
place to stand in court or a right to appear in a court of justice on a
given question. In short, this barrier erected by the judge appears
to be the biggest impediment to the institution of environmental
litigation actions

Weakness of existing law

Literature Review
and Practices
Federal and State Jurisdictional Issues
Some problematic issues particularly those relating to the jurisdiction
between the federal and state authorities
The Federal Constitution of Malaysia, 1957 (Federal Constitution)
gives substantial powers over land use and natural resource
management to the respective States
This causes weakness and confusion in several areas of
environmental legislation. The states usually have little incentive and
rarely relinquish control over issues relating to land, mines and
forests to the Federal government, or to acquiesce in the application
Overlapping
Functions
between Environmental and Planning Agencies
of
the federal
legislation.
Challenges arise in relation to the competence of the various national
agencies responsible for the natural resource sectors. The Department of
Environment (DOE), which implements the EQA 1974, is largely
responsible for industrial pollution control. The vast natural resource sectors
like forestry, fisheries, mining and agriculture come under the jurisdiction of
other national ministries, with separate sets of regulatory laws.

Weakness of existing law

Literature Review
and Practices
Lack of authority of Non Governmental Organization
Non-governmental organizations such as the Consumers Association of
Penang (CAP), Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), Malaysian Nature Society
(MNS) and many more are actively involved in highlighting hazardous
waste issues. However, these organizations are often not given the right to
participate for lack of standing or sufficient interest to challenge an
environmental breach.
Lack of Resources and enforcement by DoE
Enforcement of environmental law heavily relies on the allocation of
resources in terms of personnel and funding necessary to carry out the
enforcement functions. For instance there is little point in employing a
deterrence style of enforcement if there are insufficient personnel to
investigate and prosecute offenders.

Weakness of existing law

Literature Review
and Practices
Lack of legal qualification by entrusted environmental policy makers
The officers entrusted to make environmental protection policies and
regulations also lack legal qualifications as they are trained in the planning,
engineering, survey or architectural areas and not law. This largely reduces
the effectiveness of the legal provisions
Employment of Planner often on contractual basis
Another important factor is that tenure of employment of planners is often
held on a contractual basis. This means there is no incentive to hold the
planners from leaving for private sector upon expiry of the contractual
period. The vacant office would normally be replaced by another group of
relatively inexperienced planners

Literature
Review
Industrial Issue
High Cost of Waste Treatment Plant
Small and medium industries can not afford to have waste treatment plant
due to high investment cost and also maintenance cost. Due to this fact, they
will generally opt to discharge waste generated to drains and river without
considering the impact to environment
Lack of knowledge in the impact of hazardous waste
Many industry players or workers may not have the necessary knowledge
and chemical used
for production which could be hazardous. Ignorantly they may dispose
without proper reporting or treatment
Scheduled waste
Organization avoid register under scheduled waste generation and disposal
due to high cost of disposal and record keeping.

Recommendation for
Literature Review
Improvement
Improve legal shortcomings
All the legal shortcomings must be improve to have clear laws without any
jurisdiction, sectorial, overlapping of functions and interest in order to meet
environmental and waste management standards.
Balance between Industry growth and waste management
The Federal and state government must ensure that environment issues are
of priority when approving new production facilities and not only focused on
FDI and local investors.
Need to Introduce the Freedom of Information Act:
Information should be made freely and the Official Secrets Act ought to be
refined. Due to the fact that the information is power and it is storehouse of
knowledge may bear a substantial impacts on the governmental functions
and its environmental aspects.

Recommendation for
Literature Review
Improvement
Enforcing Environmental Law
The following ways for the compliance with the Environmental Laws such as
strict enforcement methods, positive incentives and coercive measures
should be applied by regulators in discharging their duty to ensure
compliance
Need to provide with Trainings:
Training should be a priority. Training on the importance on the environment
and on the technical matters may be given for the industry work force.
Training is vital for the conservation and environment issue. We need to
provide training all level of workforce.
Need to strong Political Commitment:
In the quest for grater compliance issue and interest, the common mistake is
to blame the lack of political will on the part of the government of the time.
We need to be politically motivated to face the environmental challenges

Recommendation for
Literature Review
Improvement
Environmental Audit Certification to ISO 14000.
ISO 14000is a of standards related toenvironmental managementthat
exists to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes,
etc.) negatively affect the environment (i.e., cause adverse changes to air,
water, or land); (b) comply with applicable laws, regulations, and other
environmentally oriented requirements, and (c) continually improve the
above. It must be made compulsory all organization to be certified within 1
year of operation.
Prevention is best cure
The magnitude of damaged caused by hazardous waste disposal to both for
ecological and economic reasons due to the fact the environmental damage
cannot be measured. Therefore, the compliance procedure should be
preventive minded and provisions should be
made adequately for discouraging violations
Tax incentive
Government should implement tax incentive to companies having good
waste management

Ethics and CSR in

Literature Review
Environments
issue
Ethics and environment
Ethical consideration on environment should be integrated into operations
management principals to ensure conscious policies are made to protect
environment with effective waste management. Government and public
must encourage and support such organizations
Corporate Social Responsible
Environmental CSR initiatives can affect the following levels of corporate
structure: environmental disclosure, environmental policy,
environmental impact, and environmental performance. With
disclosure, corporations can improve the transparency of internal operations
to display improvements that are being implemented across facilities or
assets owned. With policy, the CEO's mandate is to focus internal efforts to
incorporate corporate-wide policies and agendas that will direct the
corporation toward its environmental goals.

Literature Review
Conclusion
Environmental laws and relevant government and nongovernmental organization should be more awareness building
regarding the environmental conservation and development are to
be made immediately.
Even though Manufacturing industries (MI) contributing 6.2% in
GDP growth, Industrial Waste is something that should be
controlled and never to neglect, priorities must be set in order to
combine environment and development.
Severe punishment should be given for any illegal dumping, in year
2001 -2006, an average of 100 cases of illegal toxic waste disposal
and 40 cases successfully brought to court under section 34 (B)
Environmental Quality Acts 1974.

Literature Review
Conclusion
Weakness of existing law and Practices- needs be improved and it
should be endowed with appropriate powers and responsibilities
and should be acting as a form of international administrative
agency. This institution will work as a fiduciary role in protecting
the environment.
The Religious Including Islamic Principles of Environmental Laws
tool to realize and the implement the religious based principles to
bring a peaceful life.
Ethics, Transparency and Accountability is helpful to the better
governance for ensuring the environmental rights to all

Prevention is the Golden Rule for the environment both for

ecological and economic reasons due to the fact the environmental