This study represents an early effort to understand the issues pertaining to odour that emanated
from landfill sites. Admittedly, the issue itself was not new and had often been reported in the
print and electronic media but thus far, however, there was no specific studies on this subject.
The contribution of this study is empirical evidence that the bad odour coming from the landfill
was disruptive to the everyday life of the local public. It was established that the bad smell was a constant nuisance to the outdoor activities of the residents. The “peak” malodour was more often
experienced during the night necessitating residents to shut all windows and doors to reduce the
sensing of the bad smell. The study also indicated that the periods and intensity of bad smell
could be influenced by the weather, in particular, the wind direction. Hopefully this study will
contribute some valuable information to the Malaysian Department of Environment in
formulating and developing guidelines on odour pollution from landfills.