KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is studying a suitable approach to implement the end-of-life vehicle (ELV) management policy by 2025, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.
He said the development of the policy was important to ensure that the components and usable materials from old vehicles can be used and not be thrown away.
"The excess of dilapidated vehicles, which also have resulted in dengue outbreaks, occur because there is yet a policy on the proper action that needs to be taken, with emphasis on the method of proper disposal," he said at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), representing the ELV Research Consortium, and Malaysia Automotive Recyclers Association (MAARA).
He said Malaysia was looking at Singapore and Japan, two countries that have expertise in ELV recycling, in drafting the framework, adding that 70 per cent of dismantled items from ELVs could be exported to other countries and had the potential of reaching a value of RM10 billion for related industries.
Based on data from the Transport Ministry, since May 2022, there were a total of 33 million registered vehicles in Malaysia, with 19 million of them being at least a decade old.
On the MoU signed today, Dr Adham said the consortium involved three universities, UTM, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, working with industry players, such as MAARA, to resolve the issue of ELVs through recycling or upcycling.
The MoU aimed to gather data and information on re-manufacturing and recycling, as well as foster cooperation between industrial and consortium members through research and training programmes and to develop a re-manufacturing and recycling plan to support the National Automotive Policy 2020.
On electric vehicles, Dr Adham said Malaysia intended to establish 10,000 charging stations throughout the country by 2025.
The battery development industry would also need to be coordinated to the use of electric vehicles to provide jobs for the B40 group, he added. - Bernama