The Malaysian government is currently studying an approach to the end-of-life vehicle (ELV) management policy, with plans to implement it by 2025. This was revealed by Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Adham Baba, who said that such a policy was necessary to make sure that components from old cars can be reused instead of being thrown away.
The minister further added that the excess amount of dilapidated vehicles may result in dengue outbreaks as there is currently no policy for proper disposal of the scraps. He also said that Malaysia will be looking at Singapore and Japan to draft the ELV framework as the two countries are experts in ELV recycling.
Speaking of recycling, Adham went on to say that 70% of dismantled items from the ELV practice can be exported to other countries, with the potential for it to reach RM10 billion for the related industries. The ELV Research Consortium which is made up of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) have signed an MoU with the Malaysia Automotive Recyclers Association (MAARA) to resolve the issue of ELVs through recycling or upcycling.
Based on May 2022 data from the Ministry of Transport, Malaysia has a total of 33 million registered vehicles, although 19 million of them are at least a decade old. The figure, which was revealed during a time when Klang Valley was facing major congestion issues, sparked worries about the increasing rate of vehicle ownership exceeding the country’s population but was promptly quelled when a former transport minister explained that the number included old, inactive vehicles as Malaysia lacked a proper ELV policy.
This prompted a proposal by UKM for vehicles over a decade old to be scrapped, although the current Transport Minister, Wee Ka Siong, quickly rejected the idea as it was “a complex matter“. Wee instead suggested that the government provide a complete public transport system before implementing such a policy for vehicles.
(Source: Bernama.)
