GEORGE TOWN, Feb 9 — With the sole solid waste landfill in Penang at Pulau Burung nearing full capacity, factories and those in the construction industry may now need to pay for generating waste in the state.

Solid waste management and the costs involved in disposing it had always been a growing problem that the state has been grappling with.

State exco Phee Boon Poh said it is time to implement a "waste generators pays” system by making factories and the construction industry pay for the waste they generate.

"Now, they only pay the hauliers to dump their waste at the landfill so they do not control the amount of waste they generate,” he told Malay Mail during a recent interview.

Under the proposed new system, Phee said the factories and those in the construction industry will be charged by the weight of the waste they bring to the landfill.

"When they realise they have to pay for the waste they generate, they will find ways to reduce the amount of waste,” he said.

According to the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) Mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang, the city council is putting in place an integrated and sustainable waste management system to track construction waste.

"We will require developers to declare their construction waste management plans before we issue the commencement of work for any project,” he said.

The plans must specify the amount of waste the project may generate along with how and where the developer planned to dispose of it.

He said this is one way to track and manage construction waste, most of which ended up in the Jelutong landfill previously.

The Jelutong landfill is scheduled to finally be closed and rehabilitated so the city council had to look at ways to reduce construction and demolition (C&D) waste.

Even though it will not cost much for companies to dispose of their C&D waste, there has been an increase in illegal dumping of C&D waste on vacant government and private lands.

Phee said this problem started sometime at the end of 2017 where at least eight such illegal dumping sites were discovered around the Diamond Valley Industrial Park in Batu Maung.

He said this is because some unscrupulous service providers would charge a very cheap rate to dispose of solid waste for construction companies and factories.

"These companies will appoint the service providers, not knowing that they do not transport the waste to designated landfills but instead dump it illegally at unsupervised vacant plots of lands,” he said.

While the immediate action is for the city council and the Department of Environment (DOE) to issue compounds to those caught illegally dumping waste at these vacant lands, Phee said these compounds of up to RM1,000 were mere pittance and hardly a deterrent.

"We need a more permanent solution, this means changing the by-laws to empower the city council to check any lorry carrying waste and to ensure that they do not dump it illegally,” he said.

He said the city council must be given the authority to check on the lorry’s license, if it is carrying waste. Currently the city council do not have powers to do so.

Yew added that there also needs to be a by-law to make it compulsory for hauliers to apply for permits, especially those in the solid waste disposal industry.

"When they apply for permits, we will impose conditions such as putting in a GPS system in the lorries and making it compulsory that they declare the amount of solid waste they carry each day, where they dispose it along with their list of clients,” he said.

He said the city council is aware of the illegal dumping of C&D, sometimes even industrial, waste on vacant lands but it was not easy to nab those behind it as they often do it in the middle of the night to avoid being detected.

He said if all hauliers were issued permits and respective GPS on their vehicles, they will be under tighter regulations and would not dare to flout the law.

He hoped that by doing so the issue of illegal dumping of solid waste will finally be resolved or at least, reduced tremendously.