Floods, Rising Seas Make Dumps More Dangerous

Picture: Slideshow images by Ashley Yeong

In an article by Macaranga, Ashley Yeong describes the increased danger of dumps in Malaysia amid rising flood and sea levels.

Malaysia’s landfills were once all open dumpsites. Some were later converted to sanitary landfills. This conversion involves digging out rubbish and installing proper lining and treatment facilities.But only 15 of Malaysia’s registered operational landfills are sanitary landfills. The remaining 116 landfills are dumpsites (Ministry of Housing and Local Government [KPKT], October 2023).In addition, there is an unknown but probably large number of unauthorised dumps for household trash and hazardous waste. In February, the KPKT revealed that they closed 2,093 illegal waste dumping sites last year alone at a cost of RM1.6 million. Without protective measures, dumps pose significant environmental and human health risks, heightened now by the climate crisis.

Another climate change impact of concern is rising sea levels. These pose a problem for coastal landfills, allowing water to seep in and carry leachate into the ocean. This would harm marine ecosystems and lower water quality. This is the case for the 16ha Pulau Burung landfill in Penang, says Edlic, who grew up near that landfill. He gestures at a map of the landfill and humorously points out a gazebo along a running track. “You could sit here and smell the fresh air of rubbish,” he says cheekily. But turning serious, he says that Pulau Burung’s coastal location has become a real problem.