Extended Producer Responsibility Roundtable Series sparks solutions to Malaysia’s waste challenge through sharing of best practices

July 25, 2024

PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA, 25 JULY – Malaysia is committed to an eventual but complete phase-out of single-use plastics, with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation set to accelerate action when implemented within the nation’s long-term sustainability roadmap, the country’s Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister YB Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said today at a roundtable discussion on how Malaysia can address its waste issue by transitioning to a circular economy.

EPR is an environmental policy that requires producers to pay the full costs of managing and recycling the packaging waste they generate throughout a product's lifecycle, from production to disposal.

The Malaysia EPR Roundtable Series, "Enabling Circular Economy via EPR," was organised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability of Malaysia, The Royal Norwegian Embassy, and UNDP Malaysia, and brought together key stakeholders from government, industry, and civil society.

More than a million tonnes of plastics are disposed of in Malaysia each year, with 81 per cent of material value lost, according to a 2021 report by the World Bank and Malaysia’s Ministry of Environment and Water. The market failure for plastics recycling is due to various structural challenges, the report noted, resulting in an annual value loss of US$1 to US$1.1 billion. Malaysia recycled only about 24 per cent of the key plastic resins in 2019.

a group of people sitting at a table looking at a laptop — YB Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability of Malaysia; Tom Jørgen Martinussen, Deputy Head of Mission Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur; Niloy Banerjee (left), are the speakers at the event.

UNDP Malaysia

With Malaysia about to embark on EPR as part of its “Malaysia Plastics Sustainability Roadmap 2021 – 2030” strategic plan and hold producers accountable for the lifecycle of their products, including the post-consumer stage, the speakers noted their hopes that the DRS – a key component of the EPR – would incentivise consumers to return empty beverage containers by offering a refundable deposit.

The event’s sessions discussed the best practices for integrated plastics waste management solutions and how Malaysia can reference these examples; how high-performing markets have successfully implemented EPR frameworks and mixed waste sorting solutions, how holistic resource systems will enable successful outcomes in Malaysia’s DRS implementation; and case studies of DRSs in Europe and Lithuania.

DRS creates a closed and clean loop, resulting in higher quality materials, achieving both high collection rates and ensuring clean materials for recycling. By avoiding contamination, containers can be efficiently recycled into new bottles and cans. In this way, DRS provides the beverage industry, which struggles to manufacture containers with more recycled content due to a lack of high-quality, food-grade material, with optimal resources for the reproduction of containers. The higher the collection rate, the higher the quality of the materials in the loop, allowing for multiple uses in new containers. Currently, over 40 countries have implemented DRS with the average collection rate above 80 per cent.

a group of people in a living room — A light moment and pre-discussion among panels about plastics waste management issues in Malaysia.

UNDP Malaysia

The event’s speakers included YB Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability of Malaysia; Tom Jørgen Martinussen, Deputy Head of Mission Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur; Niloy Banerjee, Resident Representative, UNDP Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam; Gintaras Varnas, Head of DRS Operator (USAD), Lithuania; Lovish Ahuja, Vice President of Public Affairs, System Design, TOMRA Asia; and Jet Chang, Vice President of Public Affairs, TOMRA Asia and National Chair, Environment working group, European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. The discussions were moderated by Jessica Cheam, Founder and Managing Director of Eco-Business; Dr. Alizan Mahadi, Senior Economist and Head of Sustainable Development Policy, UNDP in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam; and Annupa Mattu Ahi, Vice President Public Affairs, Head of Asia at TOMRA.

“In combating the plastic pollution crisis, Malaysia is committed to strengthening collaborations between government bodies, private sectors, NGOs, academia and international partners. We can make a more significant impact by pooling our knowledge, leveraging resources and scaling up successful initiatives,” said YB Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability of Malaysia.

“Norway and Malaysia share the ambition to turn waste into resources in an efficient, affordable and environmentally sustainable manner making our economies more circular. Norway has for many years worked to set these issues on the international agenda, and we are happy to share relevant experiences with Malaysia,” said Tom Jørgen Martinussen, Deputy Head of Mission Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

“UNDP works with governments worldwide to develop and implement policies that support this transition to the circular economy, including advocating for EPR regulations that can incentivise businesses to adopt circular practices. As a policy tool, EPR can be highly effective in creating the right ecosystem for producers to implement more sustainable product design and develop innovative solutions for waste management. This, in turn, helps mitigate the degradation of the environment,” said Niloy Banerjee, Resident Representative, UNDP Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

“DRS is proven to be the best solution for beverage containers collection and recycling. Lithuania can be a good example – before applying DRS the country return rate was 34 per cent but it achieved 74 per cent right at the end of the first year and 92 per cent in the second year of application,” said Gintaras Varnas, Head of DRS Operator, Lithuania (USAD).

“It is proven that DRS is a very effective way of collection, and the simple and straightforward answer to that is it is in a legislative framework, which means all the stakeholders from consumers, retailers to producers have a responsibility, and the systems are defined in a legislative way to be effective. So, there is convenience of collection designed into it. There is a motivation for the consumers to return to get their deposit back, and there are also recycling outcomes that rely on this collection. So therefore, high targets of collection are set which drive the right behaviours,” said Annupa Mattu Ahi, Vice President Public Affairs, Head of Asia at TOMRA.

“Also, one of the very big reasons that deposit systems are different from other systems is that they enable clean collection of materials. So, you get really high quality and you also are able to then close the loop truly with this material. So, you're not downgrading or degrading the material. You are level cycling, so that is why they are so different from other systems and more effective,” said Ahi.