E-Waste Reporting in Malaysia – A Preliminary Study

Globally, the awareness of environmental sustainability is gaining prominence, and one of the critical issues discussed in this area is waste management. With the advent of the digitalisation age, where information may be retrieved with a finger point, the use of electric and electronic appliances has been increasing exponentially. The appliances contain components that are usually filled with toxic materials and heavy metals such as mercury, lead and brominated flame retardants that are considered hazardous under the Basel Convention. When these appliances reach the end of their useful life, the toxic components that are not properly disposed of will eventually end up in landfills, thus endangering human health and the environment (www.doe.gov.my). Unproperly managed e-waste will result in soil, atmospheric and aquatic contamination (Alabi, Adeoluwa, Huo, Xu, & Bakare, 2021). Furthermore, these contaminations posed a threat to human, animals and plants (Alabi et al., 2021). Within humans, exposure to e-waste will lead to health problems such as changes in thyroid function, respiratory problems, changes in temperament and behaviour, decreased lung function, DNA damage and cancer (Grant et al., 2013; Alabi et al., 2021). Keywords: E-waste, Reporting, Annual reports, Malaysia

NON-PERFORMING ASSETS OF BANKING SECTOR IN INDIA

Priority sector lending, non-priority sector lending, corporate debt restructuring and accumulation of non- performing assets have now become an interesting topic of discussion and debate. Evolution of priority sector credit since social control of banks back in 1967 has a chequered history till emergence of micro finance as a tool of poverty alleviation. Various committees formed by RBI and the Government of India have reviewed progress of priority sector lending and recommended measures for revamping the structural and operational measures related to social banking. On the other side, non-priority sector NPAs and corporate debt restructuring seems to be alarming nowadays. Till the year 2011 the situation was different, but after 2011 with the implication of BASEL II, banks are bound to show their stressed assets and restructuring measures are in full swing. In 2015 the corporate debt restructuring was highest in last 10 years. With the introduction of financial sector reforms and adoption of prudential accounting norms following BASEL convention, the banks have been passing through tremendous crisis with phenomenal growth of nonperforming assets. This paper analyses the growth of priority sector non-performing assets, non-priority sector non-performing assets and its contribution towards building up total non-performing assets and investigates the relationship of non-performing assets with some economic parameters. It also analyses the association of corporate debt restructuring with non-performing assets and tries to find out relationship of the above two. A strong correlation is found between corporate debt restructuring and NPAs. A negative association is found between NPAs and GDP growth.

SUSTAINABLE E-WASTE MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA: LESSONS FROM SELECTED COUNTRIES

The seriousness of electrical and electronic equipment waste (E-waste/WEEE) problem is currently haunting both developed and developing nations around the world. WEEE in layman’s term can be defined as discarded components of electrical and electronic equipment that have no reuse value. Improper disposal of WEEE can bring about catastrophic effects to mankind and the environment. The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, 1992 categorises WEEE as hazardous waste due to the presence of toxic materials. Currently, the production of WEEE is expanding at a significant rate and is expected to touch 52.2 million Mt tonnes globally by 2021. The nations around the world have taken initiatives such as introducing new laws, regulations and policies. Malaysia is also similarly affected by the increasing volume of WEEE and it has been reported that its WEEE would reach an aggregate of 762.507 million units by 2020. In response, the Malaysian government has drafted a new regulation, the Environmental Quality (Household Scheduled Waste) Regulation, which is currently under review by the Attorney General’s Chambers. Using the library-based research methodology, this legal research aims to provide a comprehensive overview of WEEE management from a global as well as the Malaysian perspective. A brief discussion on the classification of e-waste and analysis of key initiatives taken worldwide is provided and examined. The article concludes with a recommendation for the necessary actions that can be adopted to enhance best WEEE management practices in Malaysia, to ensure the threat imposed by WEEE on mankind and the environment is curtailed.

The Global Waste Trafficking and Its Correlates

Our understanding of illicit waste trafficking (IWT) is in its embryonic stages; most notably, the transnational nature of this phenomenon has hitherto been neglected in extant empirical research. This study provides the first analysis of the possible coorrelates of transnational IWT at a global level. Through recourse to information extracted from the official Basel Convention National Reports, we constructed a network of the most relevant IWT connections between 148 countries. Next, we quantitatively investigated the role of specific potential factors that influence the structure of this transnational network. Our results indicate that illicit waste is trafficked toward poorer and more insecure countries, primarily via former colonial connections. As such, IWT poses a direct threat to the sustainable development of these countries. Mere adherence to international treaties and promulgation of environmental laws does not in and of themselves explain whether a country is part of the global IWT network, although the establishment of dedicated courts and tribunals does reduce the risk of being a recipient of trafficked waste. Solid anticorruption measures and a strong rule of law increased the likelihood of being a source country in the IWT network, which, in turn, calls for a more global approach to the management of environmental issues.

TINJAUAN KEBIJAKAN IMPORTASI LIMBAH DI INDONESIA

ABSTRACT:In the last decade, a change in transboundary waste policy in China, the world's biggest importer of waste, has significant implications on the global circulation of garbage. As a countermeasure of this situation, the President has directed that all ministries and institutions related to the matters must coordinate a collective effort on preventing further waste importation into Indonesia territory. This research is a qualitative approach to analyzing the implementation of policies related to waste import in Indonesia, the challenges faced by the authorities, and inputs on how to solve those challenges, based on the perspective of customs and international trade. This study concludes that the government needs to reformulate the right policy by conducting synergies with related parties.Keywords: Customs, waste importation, Basel convention, Stockholm convention, tariff barriers, Non-tariff barriers, international tradeABSTRAK:Perubahan kebijakan, Cina sebagai importir limbah terbesar, dalam membatasi importasi limbah pada dekade ini, berpengaruh besar dalam perubahan peta perputaran arus limbah global, termasuk Indonesia. Sebagai antisipasi perubahan global tersebut, Presiden menginstruksikan agar Kementrian dan Lembaga bersinergi. Kementrian Lingkungan Hidup, Kementrian Perdagangan, dan Kementrian Keuangan cq Bea dan Cukai perlu bersinergi untuk menghalau importasi sampah masuk ke wilayah NKRI. Berdasarkan hal-hal tersebut, dengan pendekatan kualitatif, penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisa bagaimana implementasi kebijakan importasi limbah dan faktor-faktor kendala apa saja yang dihadapi pemerintah, serta memberikan masukan kepada Pemerintah untuk penyelesaian atas kendala-kendala yang terjadi, berdasarkan perspektif kepabeanan dan perdagangan internasional. Hasil penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa pemerintah perlu merumuskan kembali kebijakan yang tepat dengan melakukan sinergi bersama pihak-pihak terkaitKata Kunci: Bea Cukai, importasi limbah, konvensi Basel, konvensi Stockholm, Hambatan Tarif dan Non tarif, perdagangan internasional