Run this checklist once for each site. An inspector, an auditor or a customer can ask you to prove four things. A licensed or approved collector takes your waste. You separate it at source. You can show where every load went. Hazardous waste leaves separately. Only the last carries the RM10 million fine you may have heard quoted.
Find which rules cover each site, then run these four checks
Act 672 covers Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Johor, Kedah, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Perlis. Everywhere else, a local council or state government sets the rules.
On 29 July 2026 the Housing and Local Government Minister announced that the Cabinet had agreed to extend Act 672 to Selangor in phases, covering all 12 local authorities. No start date or phase order has been published, so Selangor's local councils and KDEB Waste Management still run solid waste there today.
| What to check | In an Act 672 state | In Selangor and the other states |
|---|---|---|
| Your collector | A SWCorp licence, checked on the i-License system | Local council approval. In Sabah and Sarawak, state approval |
| Separation at source | Compulsory since 2020 for commercial, industrial and institutional premises. The rule also asks you to appoint a licensed collector and keep disposal records | Set by the council or state. Ask what it requires |
Sites in both columns? Total waste management on one contract keeps every site's licence checks and pickup records in one place.
1. A licensed or approved collector takes your waste.
- In an Act 672 state: you have the collector's SWCorp licence number and have checked it on the i-License system at swcorp.gov.my.
- In Selangor and the other states: the local council has confirmed the collector's approval. In Sabah and Sarawak, ask the state government.
- You have noted the expiry date, and you check again each year.
The Director General of the National Solid Waste Management Department grants the licence, on SWCorp's recommendation (Act 672, sections 16 to 19). It is commonly called a SWCorp licence, and our SWCorp guide shows how to check one.
In an Act 672 state, an unlicensed collector puts you both at risk. It is working without a licence, and you are permitting that, which section 71 forbids. Our guide to Malaysia's waste regulations lists the penalties.
2. You separate waste at source.
- Recyclables go into their own bins at the point they are thrown away.
- Bins are labelled, and the people who fill them know which is which.
- In Selangor and the other states: you have asked the council or state what it requires, and kept the answer.
A waste audit shows what is in your bins before you split them.
3. You can show where every load went.
- Every collection has a record: the date, the weight and a photo.
- Every load has a destination on file: the disposal site's weighbridge ticket (a landfill ticket) or the recycler's receipt.
- Records are filed by site and by month, and one named person owns them.
- You can find any month from last year in minutes.
Paper is where this check fails. A contractor we serve on the RM3.7 billion RTS Johor–Singapore Link ran 50+ collection trips a day on paper chits. Chits went missing. We now log each collection with a timestamp and a photo, and 95% arrive on time.
4. Scheduled waste leaves separately.
Scheduled waste is what the law calls hazardous waste. The Department of Environment (DOE) regulates it, not SWCorp or your council.
- You have walked the site for it. Look for used lubricating oil and solvents in maintenance rooms, lead-acid or lithium batteries and old electronics in offices, and paint tins and chemical containers in stores and on building sites.
- None of it goes into the general bins. Under the Scheduled Wastes Regulations 2005, a mix of scheduled and ordinary waste counts as scheduled waste.
- A DOE-licensed contractor takes it away. You have found the contractor on DOE's eSWIS list of licensed scheduled-waste facilities and transporters, at eswis.doe.gov.my.
- You keep the consignment note for each load for at least three years.
Illegal disposal of scheduled waste carries a fine of RM100,000 to RM10 million and a mandatory jail term of up to five years. That is section 34B of the Environmental Quality Act 1974, as amended in 2024 by Act A1712.
ESG reporting binds listed companies, and suppliers get asked for figures
The National Sustainability Reporting Framework binds listed companies, and non-listed companies with annual revenue of RM2 billion and above. Reporting starts with financial years beginning in 2025, 2026 or 2027, by group. Scope 3 emissions, which include waste, fall due in 2027, 2028 and 2030. A supplier has no duty of its own, but a listed customer may ask it for waste figures. Our guide to Bursa Malaysia's sustainability reporting sets out who reports, and when.
The carbon tax is on hold, and waste was not in its scope
Malaysia's carbon tax was due to start in 2026 with the iron, steel and energy sectors. In April 2026 the government put it on hold. No rate or new start date has been confirmed.
Waste was not in the tax's scope, so it does not change your disposal bill.
Start with the box you cannot tick
An empty box is your next job.
We work through licensed collectors across KL, Selangor & Johor, and keep a photo, a timestamp and the weight for each pickup. Book a consultation to run the checklist across your sites. Need a bin first? See our RORO bin rental.
