The specific implications of these findings for policy actors
are that it provides an alternate approach to a policy
intervention strategy for SWM in Malaysia. The conventional approach for policy planning of SWM in Malaysia and
internationally emphasizes policy awareness, legislation
and economic incentive as a framework to drive policy
implementation (Lucas et al., 2008). This is demonstrated
with the SMWA 2007 which was primarily a top–down
approach where the SWM policy and legislation were
formulated and implemented with limited provisions for
integrating public participation or capacity building. This
resulted in significant delays in the adoption and implemen-
tation of these SWM policies and legislation as well as the
non-adoption by state governments in Selangor and Penang
(Lakshana, 2012).