KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s economic resilience is at stake as the country’s linear production system strains under climate and resource pressures.
The Tan Sri Omar Centre for STI Policy Studies at UCSI University and Ungku Aziz Centre for Development Studies Adjunct Professor, Professor Datuk Dr Ahmad Ibrahim, said Malaysia can no longer rely on an extractive take-make-waste model.
He added that this approach is already reaching its limit.
“Our linear take-make-waste economy is hitting its planetary limits. Climate pressures and finite resources have made the shift to circularity an economic necessity,” he said.
He warned that the transition will not succeed without major technological breakthroughs supported by sustained research and development (R&D) investment.
According to him, meaningful progress requires structural rather than incremental change.
“Realising this vision demands a technological revolution, fuelled by unprecedented investment in research and development. Without it, the circular transition will stall, or even fail,” he said.
He said recycling often dominates public discussion but this focus is too narrow because the circular economy begins at the design stage.
“Malaysia needs advances in materials science, biomaterials, self-healing substances and modular product architecture to avoid early obsolescence,” he said.
He added that current recycling rates for complex products such as batteries and e-waste are far below what is needed, and only new processes such as advanced sorting technologies, chemical recycling and bio-hydrometallurgy can change that.
He also noted that emerging business models rely heavily on digital tools.
According to him, Product-as-a-Service models depend on real-time tracking supported by the Internet of Things, blockchain and artificial intelligence.
“These tools are essential to extend product lifespans and support efficient recovery systems.
“Technology transforms ownership models from liability into opportunity,” he said.
In light of this, Ahmad said deeper R&D is also required to enable industrial symbiosis, where waste streams become usable inputs for other industries.
He highlighted the need for matching platforms, real-time material analytics and innovations that adapt waste into productive feedstock.
“Research into bioplastics, sustainable chemical inputs and nutrient recovery systems is critical to reducing reliance on fossil-based materials,” he said.
He cautioned that current investment levels fall far short of what is needed.
“The current level of investment in circular economy R&D is dangerously inadequate,” he said, noting that private firms often prioritise short-term returns while public funding remains fragmented.
Ahmad said these gaps are most evident at the earliest stages of innovation.
He pointed out that early-stage research carries risks that require public or collaborative financing before private capital becomes viable.
“Strong R&D will also shape standards for recycled content, design protocols and digital tracking systems.
“Nations leading in circular tech will dominate the industries of the future,” he said.
Against this backdrop, he called for long-term grants, mission-driven programmes and targeted incentives to close the funding gap.
He also encouraged companies to cooperate on shared challenges such as battery recycling technologies and standardised material identifiers, while universities strengthened cross-disciplinary teams.
“Circularity is not only an environmental aspiration but a direct economic imperative.
“Without a massive, sustained and collaborative surge in R&D investment, the circular economy will remain an elegant theory, not a practical reality.
“The cost of inaction includes continued resource depletion, accelerating climate change and rising economic fragility,” he said.
