A Case Study of Solid Waste Management in Malaysia: Issues, Challenges and Its Business Management Practices
How to Cite
How to Cite
Article
The paper aims to explore the business management practices and the implications for its use in tackling the issues and challenges faced by a solid waste management company in Malaysia, FreshAir. Experiencing rapid industrialization, with warm climate and high humidity, Malaysia is exposed to serious environmental and health related hazards. The case study research used semi-structured interviews conducted with the key participants of FreshAir in order to understand the use of business management techniques in tackling the issues and challenges faced by the solid waste company. Waste implies unwanted resources, which clearly create additional environmental costs and health related issues if they are not well managed. The study proposed that to sustain and remain competitive, organizations must ensure that the issues and challenges they face are managed effectively, which can be achieved by adopting relevant business and management accounting techniques. The findings suggest that the primary purpose of having business management and accounting information is to help FreshAir to make appropriate decisions to tackle the issues and challenges in solid waste management. The business management practices of FreshAir serve as an integral part of strategic, operations management and quality management, which lead to its sustainability. The study is of benefit to academics and managers by implying that the management functions of planning, organizing, directing and controlling should be in place to support sustainable waste management solutions.
Metrics & impact
Citations by source
Harvested 08-09-2026Counts differ by index because each source crawls a different corpus. Crossref counts only registered reference lists; Google Scholar includes theses, preprints and grey literature.
Citations over time
New citations recorded in each year, as reported by OpenAlex.
Reads & downloads
Attention beyond citation
From OpenAlex. A field-weighted impact of 1.00 is the world average for work of the same field, type and year. No Altmetric key is configured, so news, policy and social attention are not shown.
References
-
Agamuthu, P., Chenayah, S., Fauziah, S. H., & Dennis Victor. (2011). 3R related policies for sustainable waste management in Malaysia. Conference Proceedings of Innovation and Sustainability Transitions in Asia’, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Paper 135 (Non-ISI/Non-SCOPUS Cited Publication).
-
Akta 672 Akta Pengurusan Sisa Pepejal dan Pembersihan Awam. (2007). Undang-undang Malaysia. Percetakan Nasional Sdn Bhd.
-
Badgie, D., Mohd Armi, A. S., Latifah, A. M., & Azizi, M. (2012). Assessment of municipal solid waste composition in Malaysia: Management, practice, and challenges. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies. 21(3), 539-547.
-
Horngren, C. T., Datar, S., Foster, G., & Rajan, M. (2012). Cost accounting: a managerial emphasis. 14th edition, England: Pearson.
-
Kassie, K. E., (2016). The problem of solid waste management and people awareness on appropriate solid waste disposal in Bahir Dar city: Amhara region, Ethiopia. ISABB Journal of Health and Environmental Sciences, 3(1), 1-8.
-
Manaf, L. A., Samah M. A. A., & Zukki, N. I. M. (2009). Municipal solid waste management in Malaysia: Practices and challenges. Waste Management, 29, 2902–2906.
-
Memon, M. A. (2010). Integrated solid waste management based on the 3R approach. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 12, 30-40.
-
Ministry of Housing and Local Government Malaysia Report. (2006). The study on national waste minimisation in Malaysia – Final Report.
-
Mohd Dinie, M. S., & Mashitah, M. D. (2013). Municipal solid waste management in Malaysia: current practices, challenges and prospects. Jurnal Teknologi (Sciences & Engineering), 62(1), 95–101.
-
Scapens, R. W. (1990). Researching management accounting practice: The role of case study methods. British Accounting Review, 22, 259-281.
-
Sharifah, A. S. A. K., Zainal Abidin, H., Sulaiman, M. R., Khoo, K. H., & Ali, H. (2008). Combustion characteristics of Malaysian municipal solid waste and predictions of air flow in a rotary kiln incinerator. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 10, 116-123.
-
Tchobanoglous, G., & Kreith, F. (2002). Handbook of solid waste management (2nd ed., p. 950). McGraw-Hill.
-
Zaini S. (2011). Municipal solid waste management in Malaysia: Solution for sustainable waste management. Journal of Applied Sciences in Environmental Sanitation, 6(1), 29-38.
-
Zainu, Z. A., Wan Mohamad Ali, W. M. S., & Songip, A. R. (2015). Present and future innovations in solid waste management in Malaysia. Conference Proceedings of International Conference on Waste Management, Ecology and Biological Sciences, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 21-27.