In 1980, the average Malaysian produce 0.5kg of rubbish per day. in 2009, this figure escalated to 1.3kg per day. On a macro perspective, this is especially worrying as our government projected that we will produce 33,000 ton of waste per day in the year 2020, but we already exceeded that target in 2013. As more people move to the cities, rapid urbanization will make the issue of waste management all the more pressing. Associate Professor Dr. Kohei Watanabe from Japan’s Teikyo University, who recently completed a project assessing the risks and challenges of urbanization, with a focus on solid waste management issues, explains how we can better manage our solid waste.