An essential step for environmental protection: Towards a sound chemical management system in Malaysia

Leadership Roles for Sustainable Development: The Case of a Malaysian Green Hotel

The leadership roles of green hotels are essential for sustainable development because of their contribution to reducing carbon emission, supplying safe food, and managing water resources. However, sustainability education has not adequately integrated entrepreneurial skills to promote green hotel practices towards sustainable development. Therefore, this study explored the leadership roles of the Frangipani Hotel in Langkawi, Malaysia, because it adopted a circular economy in line with the zero-waste concept to develop the environmental and socio-economic condition of the locality. Extensive literature reviews were conducted to explore the transformational leadership roles of the Frangipani hotel for green practices. Interviews with the managing director, general manager, and the head of 10 operating branches of Frangipani also provided information about the green hotel practices to support its leadership roles. Similarly, interviews with the public, private, business, and community stakeholders also supported the transformational leadership roles of Frangipani to integrated green hotel practices with effective multi-stakeholder collaboration for quality control and quality assurance of its green practices. The patience of Frangipani and its roles as a liaison among government, non-government, business, and private and community sectors have been very effective in promoting green practices in the hospitability industry via training and knowledge-sharing. However, the monitoring and evaluation of these green practices are essential, and they can be completed via developing a special key performance index for the effective promotion of green hotels.

Classified Chemicals in Accordance with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals: Comparison of Lists of the European Union, Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand

Background

The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) was developed to enhance chemical classification and hazard communication systems worldwide. However, some of the elements such as building blocks and data sources have the potential to cause “disharmony” to the GHS, particularly in its classification results. It is known that some countries have developed their own lists of classified chemicals in accordance with the GHS to “standardize” the classification results within their respective countries. However, the lists of classified chemicals may not be consistent among these countries.

Method

In this study, the lists of classified chemicals developed by the European Union, Japan, Malaysia, and New Zealand were selected for comparison of classification results for carcinogenicity, germ cell mutagenicity, and reproductive toxicity.

Results

The findings show that only 54%, 66%, and 37% of the classification results for each Carcinogen, Mutagen and Reproductive toxicants hazard classes, respectively are the same among the selected countries. This indicates a “moderate” level of consistency among the classified chemicals lists.

Conclusion

By using classification results for the carcinogenicity, germ cell mutagenicity, and reproductive toxicity hazard classes, this study demonstrates the “disharmony” in the classification results among the selected countries. We believe that the findings of this study deserve the attention of the relevant international bodies.