Regulation of toxic and hazardous waste management under the Environmental Quality Act 1974

Abstract

Development activities in the various economic sectors, particularly the industrial sector, have generated not less than 380, 000 tonnes of toxic and hazardous wastes every year in Malaysia. Improper management of the wastes might lead to disastrous impacts not only to human being but also to the environment as illustrated by the Love Canal incident in New York and the Minamata incident in Japan. To minimize such adverse impacts and to promote proper management of toxic and hazardous wastes, Malaysia has promulgated several regulations related to toxic and hazardous wastes. Besides that, amendment to the existing laws has been made. Unfortunately, despite all the efforts of strengthening the legislation, environmental problems triggered by the mishandling of toxic and hazardous wastes still continue to occur rampantly. The most worrisome is the problem of illegal dumping which is at an alarming rate. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the existing legislations and their effectiveness in ensuring sustainable management of the toxic and hazardous wastes. To achieve this, the research analyses the scopes and strategies of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 in regulating proper handling of toxic and hazardous wastes and identifies factors considered to be the major constraints undermining the efficacy of the law. Apart from that, the study also assesses the involvement of Department of Environment and other environment-related agencies under various ministries in addressing the issue of toxic and hazardous wastes management. The study concludes, among other things, that successful regulation of toxic and hazardous waste management depends on the elimination of the existing obstacles within the present legislative framework and minimization of the limitations of the laws.