“Sustainable Waste Management: New

Directions of the Circular Economy and the

Collaborative Economy”
By
Dr.K.Subramaniam, PhD; MCIEH(UK), PJK;
Head of Department
Environmental Health and Safety,
Faculty of Allied Health Sciences,
MAHSA University, Kuala Lumpur

8th December 2016

MBSA Waste Management Seminar,
Bluewave Hotel, Shah Alam.
 Presentation itinerary
i. Precursor to the future…
ii. Topic Focus i
1. Introduction
2 Addressing Asia Pacific region
3. Existing waste management system
4. Management Pressures
5. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
6. Long Term Measures
7. Areas for Improvement
8. Proposed Improvement to a “Good” Waste management System
9. Benefits in Improving a “Good” Waste Minimisation System
ii. Topic Focus ii
10. Developing business acumen with product stewardship
11. International Technology
12. Unraveling investment opportunities as circular economy solutions
13. Drivers for Asia’s circular economy
14. Conclusion
 i. Precursor to the future…
I. Dealing with waste management: is
it sustainable and what management
techniques are used?

II. Discussing best practices in

implementing waste management
lifecycle when applied to circular
economy.
 Topics Focus

I. Dealing with waste management and

with current management techniques
without implementing Life Cycle Analysis
(LCA) or Material Flow Analysis (MFA.
 1. Introduction
• Management of waste - poses a major problem in
most countries.
• 189% expansion of urban areas
• 67 urban centres (1980s) to 127 urban centres
(1990s)
• Immense population growth of 62% in Malaysia
in urban areas (2000)
• waste generation reaching 65% in 2007
(Agamuthu and Fauziah (2010).
6
Figure 1 : Waste Management Models (Norhazani, 2004)
(Norhazani, 2004)
Figure 1 : Waste Management Models (Norhazani,
(Norhazani,2004)
2004)
2. Addressing Asia Pacific region
• Circular economy is promoted internationally ~ 50
years but without actually happening.
• Blind spots that keep linear economics locked-in
despite everyone's best efforts.
• Explore and map blind spots:
a) help visualize the vast untapped potential for systemic
change (especially in waste management)
b) entire economies is moving towards a circular economy
in the world.
 Introduction
2. Addressing Asia Pacific region

• Available assessment tools:

a) material flow analysis (MFA), and;
b) life cycle assessment (LCA).
• This move required three radical system
change levers to enable both European
and global circular economy for real and
far faster.
 2. Addressing Asia Pacific region
• Three radical management system change levers:
• a). action lever - pre-cycling can switch the focus of decisions
about resources to all the actions BEFORE something
becomes waste.
• b). price lever - circular economics can switch markets to
price the risk of products becoming waste in ecosystems,
providing vital incentives and financing for change.
• c). political lever- restorative growth (based on circular
economics not technical improvement) can switch political
mind sets away from destruct-mode linear economic growth.
 3. Existing waste management
system
• Proper management of waste management will minimize
the risks to the health and safety of staff, public and safety
of the environment.
• This waste management system includes:
a) Prevention,
b) Segregation,
c) Handling,
d) Collection & transportation,
e) Recycling, recovery & disposal of waste (Hall, 2008).
13
 3. Existing waste management system
• Management of waste should based on the ‘cradle-to-
grave’ concept.
• The waste managers bear most responsibilities for every
step in the life cycle of waste:
i. collection of waste from the waste disposal points,
ii. transport to transit stations, disposal, and recovery /
recycling plants.
• Initial stage of waste disposal, i.e. waste segregation and
storage, is performed by waste management providers.
(Norhazani, 2004)
 4. Management Pressures
• Pressure from demographic changes and population
increase and demand for consumer supplies (urban drift).
• The major areas of concern in any management systems
are:
1. Legal instruments
2. Institutional support
3. Finance
4. Technology
5. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
• Establish & implement new business models to cater for
circular economy EPR.
• Faced with increasing amounts of waste, many
governments have reviewed available policy options and
placed responsibility for post-consumer phase of certain
goods on producers as an option.
• New administrative policy of EPR or a policy tool to be
introduced under which producers are given a significant
responsibility with financial and/or physically for the
treatment or disposal of post-consumer products.
5. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
• Assigning such responsibility could in principle
provide:
a). incentives to prevent wastes at the source,
b). Promoting better product design for the
environment, and;
c). support the achievement of public recycling
and materials management goals.
 6. Long Term Measures
• Opportunities may be found by improving
the process of waste management.
• Innovative products’ design decreases:
• waste handling risk factor,
• waste compacting technology,
• automated waste delivery system and
• needs to be widely adopted.
 7. Areas for Improvement
• Legal instruments – regulations motivate pollution
prevention – a need to meet current changes
• Institutional support – regulatory agencies may have to
consider impacts first before enforcement (e.g. using risk
assessment approaches)
• Financial implications – increasing costs must be reduced by
preventive approaches
• Technology changes –
– Need to cope with the technology divide
– Knowledge transfer the key to changes
Legal instruments

(Norhazani, 2004)
 7. Areas for Improvement
• Technology changes need serious improvements:
(i) source separation,
(ii) awareness for proper management, and;
(iii) training for personnel involved in waste
management.
• There is a need to study further this aspects in
the privatised areas.
 7. Areas for Improvement
• A holistic approach is needed for waste
minimisation & waste characterisation
studies (LCA & MFA) in various streams.
• Key to minimize costs for eventual waste
treatment & disposal by waste
minimization within an overall pollution
prevention program
Table 1:

(Norhazani, 2004)
(Norhazani, 2004)
8. Proposed Improvement to a “Good”
Waste management System
Key elements:
i. Unequivocal support from top
management
ii.An explicit scope and clear objectives
iii.An accurate cost accounting system
iv.A company wide philosophy of waste
minimization
v. An effective technology transfer program
(Woodard, 2001).
 9. Proposed Improvement to a “Good”
Waste Minimisation System
• Reduction of wastes, in quantity and toxicity,
is done at source by thorough and intense
application of many techniques:
a) Immaculate housekeeping
b) Substitution of nontoxic substances for toxic
substances
c) Changing manufacturing processes and/or
equipment
d) Recycle (and reuse)
e) Waste exchanges (Woodard, 2001).
 9. Benefits in Improving a “Good”
Waste Minimisation System
Benefits can include the following:
a)Reduced liability as a potentially responsible party
(PRP) at off-site final disposal locations,
b)Improved relations with customers seeking
associations with environmentally conscious or
“greener” suppliers
c) Improved public image
d)Increased production capacity
e) Reduced costs for handling and storage of wastes
 ii. Topic Focus II.
ii. Discussing the best practices used
by other countries in waste
management lifecycle that can be
applied to the local scene.
 10. Developing business acumen with product stewardship
• Developing an action agenda of national significance:
1. aims to bring the focus on the importance of
resource productivity and
2. innovation along with identifying new frontiers of
innovation in a circular economy by seeking
connection between stakeholders and sectors
whose current interactions are currently limited.
10. Developing business acumen with product stewardship

• Improve collaboration between researchers and

industry in the waste, mining and
manufacturing sectors.
• Traditionally these were thought to be discrete
parts in a linear supply chain, yet each sector
was a design node for creating niche value in a
circular economy.
 11.International Technology
• Our common future is pervasively digital and by
connecting the digital era with increased energy and
resource productivity
• We can shape a better economic and social future in an
environment ready to sustain new generations.
• This call to action is to seed new conversations and
collaborations between businesses, academia, government
and the community which are needed to drive a new wave
of responsible prosperity for Asia and the world.
 9.International Technology
• Understand the waste first, then pick treatment and
disposal technologies
• The technologies that are widely available and are starting
to be put in place in health care setting in the "developing
world" are what one would define as soft technologies.
• Similar to what we learned in the 1970's in energy
management, it made more sense to invest in training,
behavior change, and low-cost infrastructure to save energy,
rather than to just continue building new power plants.
(Glenn MCrae, Basel Action Network 2011).
• Need to learn to manage energy just as
we need to manage waste.
• Soft technology approaches that have
been successfully implemented in many
industries with outcomes such as:
i. increased worker safety,
ii. a vast reduction in the volume of waste
needing special treatment,
iii. a lessening of public health risks, and
iv. lower costs for waste disposal.
12. Unraveling investment opportunities as circular
economy solutions
• Economic growth has prospered in recent
decades in the world and particularly in
world, fostering a good time mentality.
• In the twilight years of mining and
construction boom in Australia, rising
commodity prices and the associated high
dollar masked a decline in productivity in all
sectors putting pressure on governments and
taxpayers.
 12. Unraveling the investment opportunities within
circular economy solutions
• Four cases of opportunities in any
perspective and for future:
a) Replenish stocks and rethink value
b) Design for renewable energy and resource
cycles
c) Harness disruptive innovation for production
and consumption, and;
d) Leverage know-how into new networks and
markets.
13. Drivers for Asia’s circular economy
• There are also four diverse drivers impacting Asia’s economy.
• Social drivers: there are increasing pressures on the employment
sectors. The increasing consumer awareness of environmental
impacts. The ethical concerns for responsible production of
goods especially, at the“end of use”,
• b) Economic drivers: The volatile prices for energy and resource
imports and exports in the ever changing global economic
conditions. There is also a growing demand for resources (for
both raw and semi-finished) along with complex supply chains
that are both local and global. The economic climate challenges
come from the uncertainty for businesses (Karuppannan, 2015).
13. Drivers for Asia’s circular economy
• c) Environmental aspects: The depleting stocks of natural
resources in the world along with the growing population have
created new dimensions to this challenge.
• The global climate change issues have a major impact on the
existing biodiversity loss, aggravated pollution in the many
countries.
• d) Technology drivers: There is an increasing uptake of renewable
energy to ensure sustainable development in urban and rural
settings. The digital revolution has let to worrying disruptions due
to the energy intensive devices (Karuppannan, 2015).
 14. Conclusion
• The circular economy goes far beyond cycling
materials which will help reduce waste
management issues.
• There is a need to look at a broader range of
strategies that includes:
1. technology innovations,
2. business model innovation,
3. new design thinking and
4. novel modes of consumption.
 14. Conclusion
• The first measure is to inspire an orderly and well-planned
solid waste management system with the implementation
of the 3Rprogramme, followed by expansion of waste
treatment capacity.
• Urban planning and waste management should be
integrated to motivate positive attitudes towards
sustainability and circular economy.
• These measures will lead to a more sustainable urban solid
waste management system of Greater Kuala Lumpur and
Malaysia as a whole.
 14. Conclusion
• Use whole systems approach in sustainable waste
management.
• Possible to exploit synergies at the interface of all of these
aspects.
• These ideas are in the context of future mobility systems.
• Distinct from traditional primary resource production that
has pursued an approach of “bigger, deeper, faster” the
opportunities in the circular economy are about being
smarter and embracing a“take-make-recreate” strategy.
 References
• Shafie, F.A.; Omar, D.; Karuppannan, S.; and Ismail, N. (2016). Urban-
Scale Material Flow Analysis: Malaysian Cities Case Study. The
International Journal of Environment and Sustainability.
(https://www.sciencetarget.com/Journal/index.php/IJES/issue/2016)
• Karuppannan, S. (2015). Navigating Away From The Linear Model:
Exploring Untapped Potentials Within The Circular Economy. Presented
at the Industrial Waste Management Conference 2015 Royale Chulan
Hotel, Jalan Conlay, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 5th November 2015.
(https://www.academia.edu/27054450/navigating_away_from_the_li
near_model_exploring_untapped_potentials_within_the_circular_eco
nomy).
Please do ask and any feedbacks are sincerely appreciated:
kajangsubra@gmail.com / Tel: 012-6923264

Thank you