COMPLETION REPORT
Kuan Seng How
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Comparative Study of Plastics Recycling in Japan and Malaysia: Current State, Challeges and Opportunities
The project entitled “Comparative study of plastics recycling in Japan and Malaysia: Current state, challenges andopportunities” was conducted to evaluate the current recycling scenario in Japan and Malaysia, identify challenges andpropose opportunities for collaboration between the two countries in plastic recycling. Literature search was conductedand a set of nine criteria were employed to critically evaluate the policies and legislations of both countries. A total ofeleven in-depth, semi-structured interviews were carried out with policy makers and industry stakeholders in Japan andthirteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews were carried out with counterparts in the Malaysian plastic recycling
industry between July 2021 and July 2022. The project also resulted in a final year undergraduate thesis to evaluate theenvironmental impact of plastic recycling processes in Malaysia and Japan using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
Our work identified a number of barriers inhibiting sustainable plastic recycling in Malaysia such as management andlogistics issues, lack of data pertaining to plastic recycling, lack of focus in implementation of plastic recycling law andlack of legislation targeted at illegal plastic import. Recommendations made to counter these issues are proposed as: theintroduction of a central agency for plastic recycling, introduction of indicators and measurements for plastic recycling,
introduction of industry-specific legislations, implementation of an efficient PAYT system, among others. In Japan,barriers currently faced in plastic recycling in Japan are identified as the rise of plastic waste, lack of incentive forrecycling companies, high environmental load of waste processing, opposition to construction of waste treatment facility
and lack of relevant information and data on plastic waste exports. Countering measures are proposed to lower thebarriers mentioned such as the use of substitute material, making full use of chemical recycling to complement
mechanical recycling, elaborate research on plastic recycling technologies, among others. Two strategies proposed to be
jointly developed by both countries are enhancement of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) through a regional
policy platform and collaboration in establishing joint Ecotowns. A regional policy platform between Japan andSoutheast Asia is crucial to deal more efficiently with products and end-of-life items that are shipped across borders.
Further cooperation can also be carried out by both countries in terms of the joint construction of EcoTowns where it isexpected to see developments in elaborate data-sharing platforms and standardisation of recycling product criteria in theforeseeable future. Our LCA results showed that mechanical recycling in Japan yielded the lowest Global Warming
Potential (GWP) values compared to incineration and liquefaction in Japan and landfill in Malaysia. Dumping plastic
waste in landfills in Malaysia yielded the highest GWP compared to all scenarios in Japan respectively. Our results also
show that when current energy sources are replaced with the solar energy, wind energy and hydroelectricity, the GWPvalues can be reduced up to 98.03% and Primary Energy Demand (PED) up to 60.44%. As for the landfill scenario inMalaysia, it is recommended that the landfill gas be used to produce energy to power the nearby residential and industrialareas.

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Publication of the Results of Research Project:
Verbal Presentation (Date, Venue, Name of Conference, Title of Presentation, Presenter, etc.)
Thesis (Name of Journal and its Date, Title and Author of Thesis, etc.)
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, January 2022, Towards regional cooperation on sustainable plastic
recycling: Comparative analysis of plastic waste recycling policies and legislations in Japan and Malaysia, Seng
How Kuan, Foon Siang Low, Sylvia Chieng. (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-021-02263-0)
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10098-021-02263-0
Final Year Project Thesis, April 2022, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Plastic Recycling Processes in Malaysia
and Japan, Ren Sheng Tan (under the supervision of Dr Seng How Kuan).
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, October 2022, Contrasting stakeholders’ perception on plastic
recycling in Asia: Comparative analysis of Japan and Malaysia, Seng How Kuan, Foon Siang Low, Sylvia Chieng(in preparation).
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, December 2022, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Plastic
Recycling Processes in Malaysia and Japan, Seng How Kuan, Foon Siang Low, Sylvia Chieng (in preparation).
Book (Publisher and Date of the Book, Title and Author of the Book, etc.)--2-