Malaysia Moves to Devolve Scheduled Waste Management Powers to Sabah

• 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘢’𝘴 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 (𝘕𝘙𝘌𝘚) 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘢 𝘈𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 1963 (𝘔𝘈63), 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘩. • 𝘕𝘙𝘌𝘚 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘳 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩 𝘒𝘶𝘳𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. • 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘈𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬, 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘴. • 𝘚𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘩’𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘔𝘈63 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬’𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

Malaysia is progressing on two environmental matters under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), with the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) Ministry pursuing the return of Federal land to Sabah and the devolution of scheduled waste management powers to the State. NRES Minister Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup said eight lots of Federal land have been returned to the Sabah Government since he took over the ministry this year.

The second area involves the transfer of authority to manage scheduled waste under the Environmental Quality Act. Parliament has passed an amendment enabling the power to be devolved to Sabah and Sarawak, but Sabah must first establish its own legal framework through a State enactment or ordinance before the authority can be transferred.

The development follows earlier preparations for the scheduled waste transition. Sabah has been working towards amendments to its environmental legislation, a dedicated scheduled waste management framework, digital monitoring capabilities and capacity building for its environmental authorities.

For businesses operating in Sabah, the eventual devolution could have implications for scheduled waste compliance, permitting, reporting, monitoring and environmental management processes. Companies handling industrial, chemical, electronic or other regulated waste may need to track developments in the State’s regulatory framework as responsibilities transition.

The move also comes amid wider implementation of MA63-related measures concerning Sabah and Sarawak. Recent discussions have included environmental management, fiscal arrangements and other areas of state-federal responsibilities.

Cognitud can support businesses in preparing for evolving environmental requirements through scheduled waste assessments, regulatory gap analysis, compliance frameworks, environmental data management and resource-efficiency strategies; helping organisations strengthen operational controls while improving their broader sustainability performance.