PETALING JAYA, Dec 7 — Scavengers will not be spared from a move to license anyone involved in the collecting of used materials for recycling. 

Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said the blanket move to cover all in the industry was to collect data to better plan green policies. 

Licensing would begin “some time” next year, he told Malay Mail.

“The licensing will be well balanced and will take into account the interests of all stakeholders.

“The licensing fee will be minimal to cover the ministry’s administrative costs and will not be a burden to those in the industry.

“This also applies to so-called scavengers who will be accommodated in addition to bigger operations.”

A scavenger is typically someone who collects discarded materials for a profit. 

The licensing will include all kinds of material collected and sold for recycling and there would be no limit to how much they earned from the sale of scrap material.

“It is to be applied on everyone participating in this activity. Only then will we have accurate information on the industry,” Abdul Rahman said.

“If they are not licensed, we will be unable to gather data as they are not obliged to declare the volume they are dealing with.” 

Abdul Rahman said the ministry would look into options for charities that collected materials for recycling.

“We need the statistics and data to formulate effective policies. We need to know the tonnage involved and exactly what happens to the materials,” he said.

On the issue of potential penalties for companies found buying materials from unlicensed individuals, he said the ministry would work out an enforcement structure.

“The penalties will be minimal. We are not dealing with criminals or an underground economy. The main aim is data collection, not to impose difficulties on them,” he said.

Abdul Rahman had earlier been quoted as saying items collected for recycling would be weighed and the statistics sent to the relevant department under the ministry. 

He said Malaysians produced 38,000 tonnes of waste daily and this was expected to rise.

A total of RM2 billion is spent by the government annually on solid waste management and public cleaning.