An analysis on the effect of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic movement control order (MCOS) on the solid waste generation in Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

This study intends to deal with the environmental consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, by providing a summary of the effects of COVID-19 on municipal solid waste (MSW). In this analysis, the data on domestic waste collection were collected from the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleaning Corporation (SWCorp) from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020 to evaluate the relative changes in MSW percentage via a waste weighing method. The data consisted of the cumulative tonnage of MSW for every local authority in Peninsular Malaysia and was classified according to MCO phases; before the MCO, during the MCO, during the conditional MCO (CMCO) and during the recovery MCO (RMCO) phases. The results indicated that the enforcement of the early MCO showed a positive effect by decreasing the volume of MSW. This decrease was noted across 41 local authorities, which accounts for 87.23% of Peninsular Malaysia. However, the amount of MSW began to increase again when the MCO reached the conditional and recovery stages. From this, it can be concluded that the implementation of the MCO, in its various incarnations, has shown us that our lifestyles can have a harmful impact on our environment. While the pandemic was still spreading and limitations were still in place in Malaysia, local governments and waste management companies had to quickly alter their waste management systems and procedures. The current circumstance allows us to rethink our social and economic structures while improving environmental and social inclusion.

Malaysia's low-cost housing solid waste management in the era of COVID-19: the role of fourth industrial revolution technologies

“…(2020) discovered that MCO restricted the movement of people to curb the virus's spread. Brohan et al. (2021) found a decrease in the volume of municipal solid waste during the MCO.…”

“…It was found that the municipal solid waste began to increase when the movement control order (MCO) reached the conditional and recovery stages (Arumugam et al. , 2021; Brohan et al. , 2021).…”

“…This has made it possible to show the scholarly knowledge gap in the researchers' study results by considering the role of 4IR technologies in managing solid household waste in low-cost houses. Brohan et al. (2021) summarised the impact of COVID-19 on municipal solid waste in Peninsular Malaysia.…”

“…This has made it possible to show the scholarly knowledge gap in the researchers' study results by considering the role of 4IR technologies in managing solid household waste in low-cost houses. Brohan et al (2021) summarised the impact of COVID-19 on municipal solid waste in Peninsular Malaysia. It was found that the municipal solid waste began to increase when the movement control order (MCO) reached the conditional and recovery stages (Arumugam et al, 2021;Brohan et al, 2021).…”

Covid-19 and Municipal Solid Waste Management

“…Indeed, Science of the Total Environment dedicated a special issue on SARS-CoV-2 and collected 15 papers [1], [4], [5], [10], [16], [24], [25], [31]- [33], [36], [43], [63], [83], [84]. The other two journals that attracted papers connected with the first query are Resources, Conservation and Recycling [81], [82], [85], [86], [102] and Environmental Science and Pollution Research [14], [21], [27], [44], [48], each of them having five papers published. Four other journals, Waste Management and Research [8], [51], [57], Journal of Hazardous Materials [9], [11], [12], Environmental Research [23], [61], [89] and Journal of Environmental Management [53], [63], [78] published three papers each.…”