A national survey on environmental sustainability in Malaysia metal and fabrication SMEs sector: drivers and barriers

Environmental issues are now becoming a constant if not a dominant issues in society and government agenda. There is an expectation that all institutions especially industries take aggressive steps towards improving their environmental performance. Yet for many industries especially SMEs, the dilemma is getting started, particularly if economic survival is the most pressing requirement. With the support from SME Corporation Malaysia, an extensive survey was conducted to Malaysia SMEs in metal and fabrication sector to investigate the incentives and obstacles in convincing SMEs to adopt environmental sustainability practices into their operation. Results indicate that legislation pressure and government initiatives to be the main drivers that would encourage Malaysia SMEs to implement environmental initiatives into the organisation, whereas the main issue hindering the organisation would be money related problem. These findings present an opportunity to reach out to SMEs in the sector and design a more tailored approach for SME to become an active participant in environmental sustainability improvement initiatives