ESG stands for environmental, social and governance, the three headings a business is judged under. Your waste sits under environmental, and it is the easiest part to measure.
Most Malaysian businesses do not have to file an ESG report. The National Sustainability Reporting Framework binds listed companies, and non-listed companies with annual revenue of RM2 billion and above. If you supply one, expect to be asked for your waste figures. Either way, the first step is the same and it is cheap: weigh what you throw away.
Only listed companies and the largest non-listed ones must report
Find your company in the table.
| Your company | What you must produce | For whom | From when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listed on Bursa Malaysia, or non-listed with annual revenue of RM2 billion and above | A sustainability report each year, under the framework | Investors and your regulator | Financial years starting in 2025, 2026 or 2027, by group |
| A supplier to one of those companies | No report of your own. Your waste figures, if that customer asks | That customer | No date in law. When they ask |
| Neither | Nothing under the framework | Whoever asks: a landlord, a buyer or your own board | No date. You choose when to start |
The start year depends on your group. Bursa's Main Market is for larger companies, and the ACE Market is for smaller, growing ones. Main Market companies with a market capitalisation of RM2 billion and above report from financial years beginning in 2025. Other Main Market companies start in 2026. ACE Market companies and the large non-listed ones start in 2027.
Emissions from your waste count under Scope 3. Scope 3 covers emissions you cause but do not control, like landfill gas from your waste. The framework lets each group leave Scope 3 out for its first two or three years. So it falls due in 2027, 2028 and 2030. If you are in the first row, our guide to Bursa sustainability reporting covers what to disclose on waste.
A supplier has no duty of its own. A customer that must report may still ask for your waste figures, so it pays to have them by weight.
The first step for all three groups is to weigh what you throw away
Waste is the easiest place to start, for four reasons.
- You can measure it. Every kilogram that leaves your site can be weighed. That gives you a number, not a pledge. Our waste management KPIs guide shows which numbers matter.
- It costs little to begin. The first move is a waste audit: weighing what is in your bins, by type. With GarGeon the audit is free and comes before any quote. It takes about a week.
- The figure moves when you act. Keep cardboard and plastic out of the general bin, and the next month's record shows it. The share you keep out of landfill is your diversion rate.
- It can pay you back. Less waste to landfill means a lower disposal bill, and recyclables can be sold.
Weighing is how GarGeon works too. We log each pickup with a photo, a timestamp and the weight. Recyclables go for recycling. General waste still goes to landfill, with every pickup on the record. If you run several sites, one partner for collection, recycling and reporting keeps each site's record in the same form.
Here is what a weighed record did for one business. CCL Impex is a vegetable wholesaler. Its old recycler reported one total weight a month, so nothing could be checked.
Then recyclables were separated at source and every collection was weighed. Recycling rose from 1–2 tonnes a month to 5–6, and the monthly rebate peaked at RM2,500. A rebate is your share of what recyclers pay for your separated recyclables. That is one site's record, not a forecast for yours.
ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance
These are the three headings a business is judged under:
- Environmental: your waste, energy, water and emissions.
- Social: how you treat staff, customers and the community around you.
- Governance: how the business is run, and the records that prove it.
You do not need all three at once. Waste sits under Environmental, and it is the part you can put a number on first.
Four pressures are pushing Malaysian businesses to measure waste
- Landlords and customers ask. A mall or office landlord with its own targets may want each tenant's recycling figures.
- Buyers ask their suppliers. A company that must report may ask its supply chain for data. Our guide to waste data for ESG reports lists what to record.
- Disposal costs money. Every tonne sent to landfill is a tonne you pay to throw away.
- The waste rules apply to every business. Act 672 covers solid waste in six states and two federal territories. Local councils and state governments cover the rest, Selangor included today. An extension of Act 672 to Selangor, in phases, was announced on 29 July 2026. No start date has been published.
The steps after the first weigh-in follow a set order
With a baseline in hand, set one target, keep recyclables apart at the bin, record every pickup by weight and report from those records. Our six steps to a sustainable waste management system take each one in turn, with the record it produces and a real example. When you are ready to report, our sustainability reporting service builds the report from your pickup records.
You do not need a sustainability department to begin. You need one weighed baseline. GarGeon starts with a free waste audit, then logs every pickup with a photo, a timestamp and the weight. Book a Consultation and we will show you where to start.
