Comparative analysis between traditional villages and felda settlements on solid waste management in Kota Tinggi district

Solid waste management (SWM) has an important role in enabling sustainability in developing countries. A systematic and proper management is an important aspect in maintaining a clean and safe environment. In Malaysia, SWM in areas outside the local authority (LA) boundary is non-existent. This paper made a comparative analysis of solid waste in that areas in terms of characteristics, management, and potential methods that can be applied. A study was conducted in 46 places which include traditional villages and FELDA settlements in Kota Tinggi district. The study found there is a lack of SWM in traditional villages compared to FELDA settlements. In traditional villages, 60.71% villagers use traditional methods like onsite burning, animal feed, or self-transferred to wheeled dustbins outside of their villages, while in FELDA settlements, the FELDA settlers apply modern methods i.e. hiring contractor for a proper waste collection. The Google Earth’s zonal system was used to determine the road accessibility categorized as Zone A (57%), Zone B (32%), and Zone C (11%). This study is in line with the government’s aspiration to become a developed country without discarding the aspect of sustainable development