Open Burning in Malaysia: The Law and the Smoke
Open burning in Malaysia is a criminal offence, not a neighbourhood disagreement. Under section 29A of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 it is prohibited on any premises, and since July 2024 the fine starts at twenty-five thousand ringgit. The smoke also behaves differently from haze: it stays low.
We are ORGANO, and TYGRON® is our tiger milk mushroom (Lignosus rhinocerus) functional food, made in Malaysia by Fungitech Sdn Bhd and formulated in Australia. Every September customers send us the same message: the sky is grey, but the smell in the porch comes from three houses away. Both are usually true, and only one is something a household can act on.
Is open burning illegal in Malaysia?
Yes, and the penalty is higher than most people think. According to the Attorney General's Chambers consolidated text of the Environmental Quality Act 1974, as at 7 July 2024, section 29A(1) reads: "Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, no person shall commit, allow, instruct or cause open burning on any premises." Section 29A(5) sets a fine of not less than twenty-five thousand ringgit and not more than one million ringgit, or imprisonment for up to five years, or both.
That range was raised by the Environmental Quality (Amendment) Act 2024, in force since 7 July 2024. The older figure still circulates, including on government pages: the Department of Environment's own open burning page still describes a maximum fine of RM500,000 and still lists section 29AA, which the amendment deleted.
One clause catches people who never lit anything. Section 29B deems the owner or occupier in control of the premises to have contravened the prohibition unless the contrary is proved; section 29C gives a defence of no knowledge or of due diligence. An empty lot you own is your problem.
The exceptions are narrower than most people assume. The Environmental Quality (Declared Activities) (Open Burning) Order 2003 declares certain activities not to be open burning, among them barbecues, bonfires, and the burning of leaves and garden prunings in villages outside town, in each case not on peat soil. A suburban garden in a town was never on that list, and within 30 kilometres of Kuala Lumpur International Airport most of those exceptions do not apply. One honest complication: that Order was made under section 29AA, the provision the 2024 amendment deleted, so how it stands today is a question for the Department of Environment.
Who actually enforces it, and why does that matter?
Because calling the wrong agency is how a complaint dies. The Department of Environment lists 7 bodies across the grounds below.
| Where the burning is | Agency named by the Department of Environment |
|---|---|
| Forests, bushes and farms | Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia |
| Residential or construction area | Ministry of Health Malaysia |
| Waste disposal area, housing, construction, municipality, road or river reserve | Local authority |
| Premises storing scrap or discarded goods | Royal Malaysian Police |
| Putrajaya, Labuan, Kuala Lumpur | Perbadanan Putrajaya, Labuan Corporation, Kuala Lumpur City Hall |
The department detects burning by daily patrols, complaints and satellite hotspots. Two of the three depend on somebody picking up a phone.
Why is a small fire worse than it looks?
Height and temperature, not size. A backyard fire has no stack, so the smoke is never lifted and diluted. The New York State Department of Health, in guidance revised in October 2023, puts it plainly: "The smoke from backyard burning is released close to the ground where people can easily breathe it." A rubbish pile also smoulders rather than burns, and smouldering is the dirty part: "Trash fires in burn barrels can smolder and as a result produce greater amounts of harmful chemicals in the smoke." A slow smoky pile is worse than a brisk hot one.
What is actually in the smoke?
It depends on what is burning, the distinction almost every article skips. Dry leaves produce carbon monoxide and a great deal of fine particulate matter. Household rubbish produces those plus a long list of other things, because it contains plastics, treated wood, coated paper and printed packaging.
The New York State Department of Health lists what was found in smoke from trash burned in a barrel, including particulate matter, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen cyanide, benzene, styrene, formaldehyde, arsenic, lead, chromium, benzo(a)pyrene, dioxins, furans and PCBs. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, on a page last updated in 2025, "Currently backyard burning of waste materials creates higher levels of dioxins than industrial incinerators." The same agency notes that "Dioxins do not typically exist in materials before they are incinerated." The fire makes them.
The same department reports that for some of those chemicals, burning about 10 pounds a day of trash in a burn barrel may produce as much air pollution as a modern, well controlled incinerator burning 400,000 pounds a day. The phrase "for some of those chemicals" is the source's own. Smoke can also deposit chemicals on garden vegetables and soil.
How do you report open burning in Malaysia?
Call it in while it is burning, because a cold pile is hard to act on. The Department of Environment publishes a toll free hotline, 1-800-88-2727, and a complaint line, 03-8889 1972. For an active fire in scrub, forest or farmland, the Fire and Rescue Department at 999 is faster, and is the agency named for that ground.
Have ready the address, when it started, and what is burning. Section 29B puts the burden on the owner or occupier, so the premises matter more.
Does a satellite hotspot mean there is a fire?
No. The Department of Environment describes a hotspot as a pixel point that indicates the probability of a fire, and says satellites can register a false fire from industrial heat such as boilers and flaring, or from sunlight. Thick cloud does the opposite and hides real fires.
The ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre, the regional body Malaysia relies on, states the same limit about its own data: "Hotspots may go undetected due to cloudy conditions or incomplete satellite pass."
So a falling hotspot count is not proof that burning has stopped. Read the count as a signal and the air quality reading as the measurement. At 8am on 1 September 2026, Bernama reported Air Pollutant Index readings from the Department of Environment's APIMS portal placing Serian at 408 and Kuching at 407, both hazardous, while much of the peninsula was merely moderate. That gap is why a national headline is a poor guide to your own porch. We explain the bands in how Malaysia and Singapore measure haze.
What can you actually control this season?
Reporting a fire handles the incident. The rest is weather: how to prepare for haze season, which mask actually works, and if your chest feels tight, where the line sits. The season outlasts any single fire, so households ask for something steady. The national Malaysian Herbal Monograph records folk use of Lignosus species for coughs and colds, filed as traditional use rather than clinically proven use. After 20 years of mushroom learning and cultivation, the honest version from our household is that tiger milk mushroom belongs in the morning routine on ordinary days.
An 8-in-1 blend built around tiger milk mushroom sclerotium, in an elderberry flavour children will actually finish. Adults 1 to 2 sachets a day, ages 7 to 18 one sachet, ages 2 to 6 half a sachet. Not suitable under 2.
See TYGRON® →Frequently asked questions
Can I burn dry leaves in my own garden in Malaysia?
In a town or city, no. Section 29A prohibits open burning on any premises. The Environmental Quality (Declared Activities) (Open Burning) Order 2003 exempts a short list, including barbecues, bonfires and the burning of leaves and garden prunings in villages outside town, none of them on peat soil, and a suburban garden is not on that list. Composting or municipal green waste collection carries no risk. Note also that the Order was made under section 29AA, which the 2024 amendment deleted, so check with the Department of Environment for your own situation.
What is the fine for open burning in Malaysia?
Under section 29A(5), as consolidated by the Attorney General's Chambers at 7 July 2024, the penalty is a fine of not less than twenty-five thousand ringgit and not more than one million ringgit, or imprisonment for up to five years, or both. Sources still quoting a maximum of RM500,000 predate the 2024 amendment.
My neighbour burns rubbish every evening. What can I do?
Report it while it is alight. The Department of Environment hotline is 1-800-88-2727 and the complaint line is 03-8889 1972; for a fire in scrub, forest or farmland call the Fire and Rescue Department at 999. Note the address, the time it started and what is burning. Section 29B deems the owner or occupier responsible unless the contrary is proved, so the premises matter more than the person.
About TYGRON®
TYGRON® by ORGANO is a tiger milk mushroom functional food taken daily by families in Malaysia and Singapore. It holds the Malaysia Book of Records for the highest 1,3/1,6 beta-glucan content in tiger milk mushroom in Malaysia. 1,3/1,6 beta-glucan is the most important active compound and quality benchmark in tiger milk mushroom, and a higher content signals greater potency and quality.
TYGRON® is formulated in Australia, designed by our Sydney-based team (Fungitech Australia Pty Ltd) to one of the world's most stringent functional-food standards, then manufactured in Malaysia under GMP, HACCP and Halal-certified conditions. Why TYGRON® is formulated in Australia.
About the author
This article was written and reviewed by Boey Tze Zhou, Founder and CEO of ORGANO. Boey holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (First Class Honours) from Universiti Putra Malaysia and has completed Stanford University's Introduction to Food and Health and the University of Minnesota's Integrative Health and Medicine specialization (including Herbal Medicine) through Coursera. Across 20 years of mushroom learning and cultivation, he developed the TMM365+ slow-grown method behind the Malaysia Book of Records beta-glucan certification held by Fungitech Sdn Bhd. He is an international speaker on functional mushrooms, invited to China International Mushroom Day 2025 and other mushroom-science events across the Asia-Pacific, and was named one of the Top Ten Outstanding Penang Youth (TOPY) in 2024. Read more about the founder
Sources
- Attorney General's Chambers, Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127), as at 7 July 2024
- Department of Environment Malaysia, Open burning
- US EPA, Dioxins Produced by Backyard Burning, 2025
- New York State Department of Health, Does Burning Trash Make it Disappear?, 2023
- Environmental Quality (Declared Activities) (Open Burning) Order 2003, P.U. (A) 460/2003
- ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre, Regional Haze Situation
- Bernama, Sarawak API readings, 1 September 2026
- Malaysian Herbal Monograph, Lignosus rhinocerus
This article is general information, not medical advice. TYGRON® is a functional food. If symptoms are severe or persistent, please see a doctor. TYGRON® and the ORGANO logo are registered trademarks of Fungitech Sdn Bhd, registered in Malaysia.
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