(From left) Mami, Osamu and Dr Keeren during a visit to the Ryohshin Co Ltd headquarters in Japan.

BINTULU (April 29): Malaysians are effectively paying twice for poor waste management through public spending and the hidden costs of pollution, health risks and wasted recyclable materials―yet remain unaware of the burden, said Universiti Putra Malaysia Sarawak (UPMS) researcher Dr Keeren Sundara Rajoo.

He said solid waste management and public cleansing account for between 40 and 80 per cent of local authority expenditure in Malaysia, making it one of the biggest drains on municipal budgets.

“People may not see a separate charge for waste, but they are already paying for it through local authority spending. “When waste is poorly separated, contaminated or handled inefficiently, the cost does not disappear.

“We pay for it directly through taxes, and indirectly through pollution, environmental degradation and the loss of recyclable value,” he said.

Dr Keeren, who heads the Biodiversity Borneo Laboratory under the Institute of Ecosystem Science Borneo (IEB), UPMS, said the high cost of waste management often reduces the fiscal space available for essential public services such as roads, schools, clinics and other amenities.

He added that the impact extends beyond finances, as poor waste disposal practices also pose significant environmental and public health risks.

The World Health Organisation has warned that improper waste disposal can contaminate air, water and soil, while unsafe practices such as open burning expose waste workers and nearby communities to harmful pollutants.

Tokyo University of Agriculture’s Prof Mami Irie said waste should no longer be treated solely as a disposal issue, but as a broader economic and public health challenge.

“Poor waste management is not only a financial burden, but also a public health concern.

“When food and other recoverable materials are wasted instead of being properly reused or recycled, society loses resources, and people ultimately feel the impact in their environment and quality of life,” she said.

Ryohshin’s AI-driven industrial robotics systems are designed to sort and process waste automatically for recycling.

Prof Mami and Dr Keeren are collaborating on the ‘Towards Zero Food Waste in Bintulu’ project and the development of the KitarNow recycling application, in partnership with Universiti Putra Malaysia Sarawak, Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) and Tokyo University of Agriculture.

The initiatives aim to improve waste management systems through data-driven solutions that enable schools, hotels, institutions and businesses to monitor and reduce waste generation.

As part of the partnership, they recently visited Japan for discussions with Ryohshin Co Ltd chairman Osamu Kono, whose company specialises in environmental engineering and AI-driven recycling technology.

Osamu said one of the key challenges in Southeast Asia is that the true cost of waste remains largely invisible.

“When the cost of waste is embedded within broader public spending, people do not fully realise what poor waste management is costing them.

“If that cost remains hidden, the incentive to reduce waste and improve practices also remains weak,” he said.

Japan’s approach offers a model of accountability.

At Tamagawa Takashimaya Shopping Centre in Tokyo, waste from more than 300 tenants is centrally managed using a digital system that weighs and records disposal by category, with higher charges imposed on those who fail to separate waste properly.

Dr Keeren said Malaysia already has the tools to move in the same direction.

The Recycling Station seen at Tamagawa Takashimaya Shopping Centre in Tokyo, Japan.

“KitarNow and Towards Zero Food Waste in Bintulu are not just awareness campaigns.

“They are systems designed to generate data, create accountability and make waste visible to the people producing it,” he said.

KitarNow has already attracted more than 50 participating organisations in Bintulu, including six recycling companies.

Dr Keeren added the next step is to scale such pilot initiatives into policy so that the financial and environmental costs of waste are no longer hidden from the public.

“Waste and collection are not free.

“The environmental and health impacts of poor waste habits are not free.

“The public pays for all of it, whether they see the bill or not.

“The question now is whether Malaysia will build systems that make these costs visible before the burden becomes even greater,” he said.

Date of Input: 29/04/2026 | Updated: 29/04/2026 | lanz