Sustainable Development Goals: Exploring Current Practice and Challenges Among Manufacturing Industries in Perak

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a blueprint for addressing major global challenges, including the growing integration of industrial practices and manufacturing problems in Malaysia, while solving problems such as ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring prosperity for everyone. In Malaysia, manufacturing industries that lack an environmentally friendly mindset should contribute to SDGs to support waste-to-energy and promote sustainable practices, such as focusing on polluting the environment, reducing waste, and improving well-being. Therefore, this study aims to determine the current practices and challenges among manufacturing companies in Perak, Malaysia. This research employed qualitative methodologies by interviewing five respondents (manufacturing workers) by utilizing a purposive sampling to select manufacturing companies in Perak, Malaysia as respondents. A thematic analysis was used that involves identifying qualitative data, codes, and themes to develop a comprehensive understanding of the research topic. The finding shows that five manufacturing companies were implementing SDGs at the level of the intermediate stage in some operations and enabling them to determine which significant challenges they face. Besides the identified conceptual challenges via literature, including knowledge, finance, workforce, capital, adoption of sustainable manufacturing, maintenance, and training, this study managed to identify two new challenges, such as supply chain and innovation, which are critical for advancing SDGs. It is important to identify the best practices, challenges, and more because it helps the industry to develop effective actions in achieving sustainability goals.