Tackling the serious issues of poor recycling rates and waste management in Malaysia, a large shopping center in the bustling city of Petaling Jaya has championed the three R’s (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) with a recycling and used product buy-back program. Home to 180 ‘tenants’ (shops and vendors like Ace…
A gold mine that could come to dominate 1,000 hectares of protected forest in the Eastern Malaysian state of Sabah has been proposed, and is now under revision. The idea has excited a government hungry for development, but doubtless brings back memories of environmental catastrophe for the majority of Malaysians….
Spirits were lifted and hopes raised for sustainability last year when plans for Malaysia’s first geothermal power plant were publicized in Sabah, Eastern Malaysia. After the discovery of geothermal surface manifestations in a 50 square-kilometer area near the town of Tawau, it was determined that the area had the potential to…
The following story has been drawn from the experience of Xiwen Wendy, an environmental student at University Putra Malaysia. Wendy explores Malaysia’s outlook on Environmental Sciences, a discipline whose graduates could help stabilize their country’s environment and economy, but a subject that is undervalued and often misunderstood. Wendy writes: Looking…
Malaysia’s environment is in a fix. Its ancient jungles, teeming seas and varied tropical landscapes make it the world’s twelfth-most biodiverse region on the planet, but the nation’s economy has grown from the destruction of these ecosystems. This hungry economy has seen Malaysia’s beautiful trees, exotic animals and hills full…
Asian Metal, a business that provides advice on pricing and trading activity to mining companies, recently visited a number of mines in Malaysia. Reports from the visits reveal a truly astounding export quantity of bauxite and suggest potential changes to bauxite mining in Malaysia that could make it even worse…
According to popular vote, the ‘Greenest Person on the Planet’ lives in Malaysia. His name is Matthias Gelber, and he’s leading a sustainable revolution in the country. Gelber’s most recent project is the electricity-saving effort Negawatt Revolution, but he’s had his hand in about every kind of environmentalism there is. …
Two major airplane crashes, a rash of kidnappings and an earthquake in Malaysia last year saw tourism take a sharp nose dive. Malaysian flight MH370 went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. This awful mystery was followed by Flight MH17 being shot down over…
Illegal bauxite mining is quickly degrading life of all kinds in Malaysia. The country’s people, environment, and potential for development are all suffering from a rush of poorly regulated mining operations – but despite promises to shut down mines, politicians have not been taking action. Pahang, a populous state in…
Because haze in Indonesia often blows over to become haze in Malaysia, both countries often suffer from Indonesian fires. It is for this reason that Malaysia’s Natural Resources and Environment Minister will soon be meeting with his Indonesian counterpart to discuss the matter of transboundary haze pollution. The Malaysian environmental…
Malaysia’s landfills are spilling over, its recycling rates are low and the country is making more trash than its infrastructure can handle, but an environmental waste management company has an idea that could solve all these problems at once. SP Multitech is a company providing environmental waste management in Malaysia. …
Malaysia and China have entered discussion about partnering to produce a car especially for Southeast Asia. Referred to as the ASEAN car, it would be produced within the region and lower the currently prohibitive cost of automobile purchase for nearby countries. Being the second most expensive place in the world to…
Early this year a ship loaded with bauxite suddenly capsized and disappeared beneath the waves, leaving just one of its 19 crew members alive and spilling its entire shipment into the ocean. Bauxite mining in Malaysia is intensely controversial for several reasons, and this capsizing raises yet another – the…
An organic farm and resort in Malaysia has been teaching food health, sustainable agriculture and green eating to all comers for the past 18 years. This kind of education is hard to find in Malaysia, but is a breath of fresh air for a country struggling to achieve sustainability. Nestled…
In the past year, Malaysia has emerged as one of the world’s leading producers of bauxite, the raw ore used to create aluminum. The discovery and feverish exploitation of bauxite in Malaysia (a reaction to Indonesia’s drop-out as a supplier to bauxite-hungry China) has been a boon to the nation’s…
Malaysian residents are in their fourth year of protest against the world’s largest rare earth mineral processing facility. Built in Kuantan in 2012 by Australian mining company Lynas Corporation, the facility has been met with vigorous opposition for its entire existence – but despite public opposition, plummeting mineral prices and…