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Developing countries' dependency on landfills caused increasing greenhouse gasses emission. Sarawak, Malaysia is facing solid waste management issue due to landfill-dependency, especially in rural area. This study evaluated the household solid waste management practices in Sungai Asap, Belaga as a baseline to carbon-neutral. Quantification of segregated solid waste generated in Uma Belor, Uma Badang, and Uma Lahanan found to be lower than Sarawak's rate at 0.43 kg/person/day, 0.47 kg/person/day, and 0.337 kg/person/day respectively. One-Way ANOVA revealed significant difference among food, plastic, and metal (p < 0.05) while insignificant difference among glass, paper, and other waste types (p > 0.05). Pearson correlation showed family income had moderately positive, statistically significant (r = 0.393, p < 0.001) while family size has low positive, statistically insignificant (r = 0.141, p > 0.05) relationship with waste generation. Interviews with villages' representatives and Local Authorities revealed waste management practices, collection service inconsistency, and waste bins insufficiency were the main reasons for waste management issues. Therefore, this needed to be handled strictly to ensure sound household waste management practices. Finally, different approaches had to be implemented on the different types of waste to ensure holistic solutions can be established to achieve carbon-neutral community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accumulation of floatable litter load captured in gross pollutant trap (GPT) due to the hydrological runoff has become challenging due to rapid development and alteration of land use changes. The application of soil conservation service curve number (SCS-CN) method has been widely used to estimate the direct runoff from the given rainfall especially when there is no runoff measured within the catchment. The results found that there was enormous variation on floatable litter load between different months and individual GPT. There was a high accumulation of floatable litter load on August 2015 with 495 kg/month and at K17 with 510 kg. Both of these conditions was significantly influenced by rainfall depth, hydrological parameters such as initial abstraction, potential maximum retention, and average weighted curve number (CNaw) values from different types of land use within their respective catchment area for individual GPT. Thus, the outcomes from this study can be very useful and beneficial for related government agencies and various stakeholders in ameliorating this critical and challenging environmental issue in terms of operation and management; technical operation; the selection of GPT prior to installation in other areas including the design, costs and maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrological runoff impacts on the accumulation of floatable litter in river system have not been extensively studied in Malaysia. Thus, the aim of this paper was to identify the variation on the accumulation of floatable litter load and its composition at floating debris boom (FDB) structure through the process of hydrological runoff. 14 days of passive sampling was performed periodically using the bucket conveyer machine. The rainfall event prior to the sampling date was used in Soil Conservation Service curve number (SCS-CN) method to generate the runoff volume. The results revealed that the highest accumulation of floatable litter load was 4654.60 kg/day during the first sampling. The plastic and organic waste load were recorded as the highest composition load with 881.50 kg/day during first sampling and 501.00 kg/day during second sampling, respectively. The floatable litter transport was demonstrated through the relationship between cumulative floatable litter loads and cumulative hydrological runoff during the first sampling with R2 = 0.9572, r = 0.978 (p < 0.01); and second sampling with R2 = 0.9806, r = 0.990 (p < 0.01). Such data will contribute to knowledge and serve as baseline data information for the relevant agencies in ameliorating this environmental issue in long term planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Environmental policies should be developed in a contextual decision-making process regarding local environmental concerns emphasizing the economic, technical, social and institutional considerations. Establishing emission limit levels, especially in the industrial sector, is one of the most problematic environmental issues in developing countries, for which it is essential to include several criteria that reflect their country-specific constraints and capacities. Since Best Available Technology (BAT) is acknowledged to be the reference element for sustainable development and a basis for Emissions Limit Values (ELVs), the objective of this study is to present a reliable methodology for establishing ELVs thresholds with an emphasis on the BAT concept for national regulation at the sector level. Methods: A hybrid fuzzy multiple-criteria decision-making (FMCDM) process, consisting of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (fuzzy TOPSIS) method, is structured to aggregate the different criteria and rank different ELV alternatives in this complicated evaluation. In order to use the most profound knowledge and judgment of a professional expert team, this qualitative assessment highlights the importance of supportive information. Results: The results obtained indicate that experts have considered the country-specific information as a reliable reference in their decisions. Among different key evaluation criteria in effluent standard setting, the highest experts' priority is "Environmental protection". For both the conventional and toxic pollutants, the influence of all other criteria namely "Economic feasibility", "Technology viability" and "Institutional capacity", as constraining criteria in developing countries, have not reduced the responsibility towards the environmental objectives. In ELVs ranking, experts have made their decisions with respect to the specific characteristics of each pollutant and the existing capacities and constraints of the country, without emphasizing on any specific reference. Conclusions: This systematic and transparent approach has resulted in defensible country-specific ELVs for the Iron and Steel industry, which can be developed for other sectors. As the main conclusion, this paper demonstrates that FMCDM is a robust tool for this comprehensive assessment especially regarding the data availability limitations in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring the riverine litter was essential for the aesthetical value and reducing the negative impacts toward the human health, environment and socio-economic aspects. Riverine litter is mainly made up from the land-based sources. The lack of historical data on riverine litter generation and composition can affect the efficiency of policy makers in making any decision on riverine litter management plan. The purpose of this study is to assess the quantification of types and abundance of riverine litter at log boom Sungai Batu in Kuala Lumpur. The field sampling has been conducted for 14 days of operation day at log boom Sungai Batu, Kuala Lumpur, within the period month of March until April. The quantification of riverine litter and its composition was based on the time interval during the operation day. The result shows that the Event 3 has recorded the high abundance of riverine litter with 4654.6 kg/operation day. This study also shows that the river is highly dominated with plastic waste with 39% (62.96 ± 15.38 kg/operation day). This study provides the baseline information for the local authority and relevant agencies in reducing the riverine litter which subsequently provide a sustainable environmental and socio-economic condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]