Trash to trouble underground: How e-waste is weakening Malaysia’s ground

There is a raising alarm over Malaysia’s growing electronic waste or more commonly known as e-waste problem lamented by Minister Arthur Joseph Kurup of Natural Resources & Environmental Sustainability in Parliament. Between 2021 and 2025 authorities intercepted 701 containers of illegal e-waste, returning 428 to their countries of origin. The uncontrolled disposal of such hazardous waste not only threatens the environment but also creates serious geotechnical hazards, including soil contamination, leachate-induced ground instability, uneven landfill settlement and risks to nearby infrastructure.

Waste crossroads: Pressure, policy and progress

Malaysia is now at a critical juncture, as illegal imports and unmonitored dumping amplify these risks. Accumulating e-waste in landfills and open sites degrades soil properties, contaminates groundwater and undermines structural stability. In response, the government has strengthened regulations with strict import bans, harsher penalties for illegal dumping, mandatory corporate reporting and the 2026 Extended Producer Responsibility policy enforcement, which aims to compel producers to manage the entire lifecycle of product packaging, including collection, recycling and final disposal. Yet challenges persist, from covert smuggling and low household segregation to public concerns over waste-to-energy initiatives, highlighting the urgent need to shift toward a controlled, circular e-waste management system that safeguards both the environment and geotechnical stability.

Buried hazards: How e-waste alters soil stability

Illegal dumping typically occurs in unregulated or poorly monitored locations where no engineered containment systems are provided. Unlike sanitary landfills, these sites lack impermeable liners, leachate collection networks, gas management systems and controlled compaction procedures. Waste streams are often heterogeneous, comprising municipal refuse, construction and demolition debris, industrial by-products, and hazardous materials such as e-waste and chemicals.

This uncontrolled composition, combined with exposure to rainfall infiltration, initiates complex physical, chemical and biological processes within the waste mass. From a geotechnical perspective, the absence of design standards allows direct interaction between decomposing waste and the natural ground, creating conditions conducive to soil degradation, instability and environmental contamination.

Illegal dumping of e-waste has emerged as a critical environmental and engineering concern, with profound implications for soil properties, ground stability and infrastructure integrity. Beyond the immediate visual and ecological impacts, e-waste sites fundamentally alter the geotechnical behaviour of underlying and surrounding soils, creating long-term hazards for land use and construction activities.

Leachate generation and soil contamination

One of the primary mechanisms through which e-waste affects soil geotechnics is leachate generation. Rainwater percolates through discarded electronics, dissolving heavy metals, salts and organic compounds, producing a highly contaminant-rich fluid. In the absence of engineered leachate collection systems, this fluid infiltrates the subsurface, altering pore-water chemistry and facilitating the transport of toxic elements through soil layers. Such contamination not only threatens groundwater quality but also modifies the physical and chemical structure of soils, particularly fine-grained clays and silts, which are highly sensitive to ionic and pH variations.

Reduction in effective stress and soil strength

The infiltration of leachate elevates pore-water pressures within the soil, thereby reducing effective stress in accordance with Terzaghi’s principle. Reduced effective stress weakens interparticle bonds, lowering cohesion and friction angle, which directly diminishes shear strength and bearing capacity. This degradation is particularly critical in soft, saturated or clay-rich soils, where even moderate contamination can trigger progressive slope failures, rotational slips or sudden ground collapse. In engineered settings, this compromise in strength jeopardizes foundations, pavements and embankments constructed atop contaminated grounds.

Physicochemical alteration of soil fabric

E-waste leachate also induces substantial physicochemical changes in soil fabric. Variations in pH and ionic concentration can lead to flocculation or dispersion of clay particles, altering compressibility, permeability and structural integrity. Fine-grained soils may transition toward silt-like behaviour, further weakening the soil’s load-bearing capacity. These changes reduce the reliability of contaminated soils for geotechnical applications, making them unsuitable for unmodified or untreated use in foundations, road subgrades or earth structures.

Heterogeneous loading and differential settlement

The irregular and heterogeneous composition of e-waste dumping generates nonuniform stress distribution within the soil profile. Uneven compaction, combined with the variable decomposition of organic components, produces differential settlement that may persist for years. This on-going ground movement can distort pavements, crack foundations, misalign structures and rupture buried utilities, while also increasing the likelihood of slope instability or landslides in surrounding areas.

Biodegradation, gas generation and thermal effects

The decomposition of organic materials within e-waste generates gases such as methane and carbon dioxide. Gas accumulation increases pore pressures, creates internal voids and heightens the risk of subsurface fires or explosions. Thermally induced changes from these fires can dry, crack or sinter soils, permanently altering mechanical properties such as shear strength and compressibility. Consequently, thermally affected ground exhibits unpredictable settlement and stability characteristics, further complicating any future construction or remediation efforts.

To sum-up, illegal e-waste dumping destabilises soil, reducing strength, altering engineering properties and disrupting drainage. But through research, education, government initiatives, coordinated action by authorities and industry in advancing sustainable management including engineered containment, proper recycling and soil remediation, it can restore stability and safeguard both infrastructure and surrounding communities through sustainable solutions.