Measuring Waste in Malaysia: A neglected approach

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore why Full Cost Accounting (FCA) has not been adopted by solid waste management (SWM) in Malaysia. A case study methodology is used for the exploratory research undertaken in this study. Thematic analysis is used and it reveals that lack of regulation is a central barrier to the adoption of FCA. FCA emerges as a supported but little understood concept among participants who are environmentally sensitive. The findings are theorised against Roger’s (1995) innovation-adoption model and revealed that two types of innovations relations to adoption of FCA in SWM in Malaysia. One was the behavioural change aimed at better SWM. The other was the awareness of the need for FCA. © 2016 The Author. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK.. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, UniversitiTeknologi MARA, Malaysia. Keywords: solid waste management, Full Cost Accounting, environmental management