In recent years, Malaysia has faced environmental challenges caused by municipal solid waste, especially household waste, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among all the household waste, plastic and paper are the most unmanaged waste that cause environmental issues. Several recycling associations in Malaysia have carried out their practices for better waste sustainability and management to curb the increasing amount of household waste. However, the effectiveness is still vague in achieving smart and effective household waste management. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate Malaysia’s household waste management, mainly in three significant municipalities in Malaysia, namely Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Melaka, in becoming a resilient and sustainable city by addressing two main research questions: (1) What are the key factors for ensuring the more successful moves for future household waste management in cities? and (2) How do each of the three municipalities of Malaysia cities address their waste issues based on the key factors from RQ1? This paper reviewed 13 waste management articles and explores the potential of the four factors of waste management from the perspective of technology and data, economy, social, and governance. The discussed factors and models contributed to an integrated future-proofing framework that focuses on smart waste tracking, a gamified awareness education, and strict policies to control waste management are the way forward for the future of smart cities household waste management.

In recent years, Malaysia has faced environmental challenges caused by municipal solid waste, especially household waste, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Among all the household waste, plastic and paper are the most prominent waste that causes environmental hazards. Several recycling associations in Malaysia have carried out their practices for better waste sustainability and management to curb the increasing amount of household waste. However, the effectiveness is still vague in achieving smart and effective household waste management. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate Malaysia’s household waste management, mainly in three significant municipalities in Malaysia for Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Melaka, in becoming a resilient and sustainable city by addressing two main research questions 1) What are the key factors for ensuring the more success move for future household waste management in cities? and 2) How will the 3 municipalities address their waste issues based on the key factors from RQ1, respectively? This paper reviewed 13 waste management articles and explores the potential of the four factors of waste management from the perspective of technology and data, economy, social and governance. The discussed factors and models contributed to an integrated future-proofing framework that focuses on smart waste tracking, an gamified awareness education, and strict policies to control waste management are the way forward for the future of smart cities household waste management.

Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, mobile technologies, services, and Internet connectivity have become critical among the Malaysian elderly as an alternative to staying actively and socially connected. However, the elderly find it difficult to adapt to online technology tools with restricted skills under technology challenges. Studies related to mobile adoption and usage experiences among the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic or endemic are not rigorously conducted by researchers. Little discussion was focused specifically on aging and gender perspectives, including the importance of an intersectionality lens in understanding the interconnected factors that influence one's ability to benefit from technology. To fill in the research gaps, this paper aims to use an intersectionality lens to identify experiences on how female elderly use their mobile phones and services, as women are constantly underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) studies. The study employed qualitative case studies method with seven older women in Malaysia, 60 to 77 years old, using multiple data sources through semi-structured interviews, mobile walkthrough, and diary studies. Data were transcribed and analyzed by categorizing the key themes digitally using Nvivo. The findings showed that mobile culture and supportive environment; family roles; socialization; education and economic backgrounds; digital literacy level; well-being; and motivation were interconnected, shaping the experiences of the seven female elderly in accessing, learning, and using their mobile phones. This study has built an understanding of the intersecting factors that can contribute to a more inclusive society, especially in promoting the elderly to embrace mobile technologies in their lives.