The percentage of the Recovery Rate of paper in Malaysia is about 40 %, which is lower

compared to other countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan, as their
recovery rates are approaching or even higher than 60 %. Provide justifications for the
necessity of promoting paper recycling in our country with the aim to improve the
nation’s wastepaper recovery rate.

Every month, over 57,000 tonnes of paper which can occupy 456,000 cubic metre of landfill space
are thrown into landfills in the Malaysia, equivalent of chopping down 680,000 tress of marketable
size. While our paper waste production is very high, the recovery rate is relatively low.

In terms of economically, it is such a big waste as the paper repulping production is also a rising
market for the country, especially when our country is facing the economic crisis. The rely of the
newly taken raw materials to produce virgin pulp will cause more of our land is used for farming of
the trees (as the raw material). Land in Malaysia is extremely limited, where most of the land are
used for the production industries, and more lands are used for the plantation, where most of it are
used to produce raw material for the industries. We need to save the lands for the agriculture, which
is very important for our food supplies. Therefore, if the recovery of the paper waste increases, the
rely on the virgin pulp will decreases, which we will use less land for the pulp and paper industries,
without affecting too much on the pulp and paper market in Malaysia.

Environmentally, it is the fact that Malaysia is facing waste issue, as a typical issue of a developing
country. Malaysia aimed to be a developed country from decades ago, which causing the rapid grow
of many industries, including the pulp and paper industries. However, the waste management in
Malaysia is so poor, that more and more disaster landed due to the waste management problem.
Malaysia faced more frequent flash flood in these decades, while the waste issue is still rising.
Recovering the paper waste, which is one of the main wastes, can reduce the waste from getting
into landfill, or stuck in our sewage system. The recovery process makes use of the waste, rather
than being dumped, it can be made as a new product for the rising market of paper packaging due to
the Covid-19 pandemic.

Having to say that it is still a problem if the social in Malaysia refused to change the habits. Paper is
seen as an useless waste in Malaysia, and most important, the waste management in Malaysia are
not enforced properly. Even if more education on the new generation, or various campaign to
introduce the paper recycling, it is hard to change the fact that most people in Malaysia have no
paper recycling habits. Therefore, it is important for the Malaysia’s government to look into the best
way to improve the paper recycling, like how Japanese people did.