In 2005, Malaysia generated 19,100 tons of waste per day – an 18 per cent increase from 16,200 tons in 2001. As waste accounts for a large percentage of national greenhouse gas emissions in Malaysia, managing waste has become a major environmental issue that could also have a significant global impact. To enhance the Government’s effectiveness in addressing this issue, the Department of Solid Waste was recently established under the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.

At the same time, the large amount of waste being generated everyday also offers Malaysia a great potential to utilize the biomass, the organic matter or residue derived from agricultural and animal waste, which is a source of renewable energy. Not only does renewable energy help countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions, any certified emission reduction can also be traded as carbon credit with developed countries trying to meet their emission reduction commitment under the Kyoto Protocol.

On January 29, a roundtable discussion was held in Kuala Lumpur to raise public awareness of this potential, focusing at the municipality level. (In many countries, municipalities are responsible for waste collection and management). Co-organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the World Bank, this event aimed to:

• Introduce the linkage between climate change and solid waste management
• Establish linkage between municipal solid waste management and Carbon Finance
• Introduce the newly established Carbon Finance Facilities
• Share experiences on Solid Waste Management and Carbon Finance.

One of the World Bank’s Carbon Finance Technical Specialists with in-depth knowledge of municipal solid waste management, Mr. Ahmed Mostafa, was in Malaysia for this discussion. During the roundtable talk, he shared his knowledge with about 90 participants from both the public and private sectors. He was joined by Dr. Nadzri Yahaya, Director, General National Solid Waste Management Department, Dr. Nat Pinnoi, Carbon Finance Technical Specialist, the World Bank, and Ms. Pongtip Puvacharoen, Carbon Finance Analyst, the World Bank.

Documents to download

• Global Lessons learned in Municipal Solid Waste and Carbon Finance (ppt 969kb) by Mr. Ahmed Mostafa, Carbon Finance Techical Specialist, World Bank
• Overview of Solid Waste Management in Malaysia (ppt 61kb)  by Dr. Nadzri Yahaya, Director General National Solid Waste Management Department
• How to develop a Carbon Finance Project? (ppt 427kb) by Ms. Pongtip Puvacharoen, Carbon Finance Analyst, World Bank
• The World Bank and Carbon Finance the new prospective for developing MSW project (ppt 1.4mb) by Mr. Nat Pinnoi, Carbon Finance Techical Specilist, World Bank