Among the waste management technologies identified are mechanical biological treatment and WTE incinerator development

by AFIQ AZIZ

THE Selangor government will continue to explore viable alternative technologies to accommodate the continuous growth of solid waste in the state.

Executive councillor Ng Tze Han said in 2013 the state had formed a special task force to conduct technology assessments to identify potential systems that could revamp waste management in Selangor, which currently relies heavily on landfills.

He said among the waste management technologies identified by the committee were mechanical biological treatment, waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerator development, anaerobic digestion processing, pyrolysis or thermal decomposition, as well as to introduce material recovery facility and recycling facility.

“However, quality cleaning and solid waste management requires huge expenditures, while Selangor is facing rapid urban growth with new township areas and populations,” Ng told the Selangor state assembly yesterday.

He was responding to Lai Wai Chong (DAP-Teratai), who asked for the update on Selangor’s solid and domestic waste management.

Ng added that the evaluation has considered a sustainability system to manage waste in the state in the long run.

Selangor, the largest state in the country has a population of nearly 6.3 million and 7,000 tonnes of solid waste generated a day.

It was reported that Selangor-owned waste manager, Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd (KDEB) Waste Management Sdn Bhd, is planning to develop Malaysia’s most modern WTE plant in two phases, where both facilities are expected to be completed by 2022 and 2024 respectively.

With a total capacity to process more than 3,000 tonnes of waste a day, KDEB said it will cost the state around RM1 billion.

Besides to overcome the issue of huge construction costs, the WTE development was also not welcomed by environmental activists who claimed that the system will generate another pollution issue and harm the public’s health.

Ng said the best waste management method is still the separation or isolation of waste at the source level — which is at home — while continuing the effort to educate the public about self-recycling.

“People would not need to go to a recycling centre, but can separate their waste at home and KDEB contractors will collect them accordingly,” he said.

However, he said the state and KDEB have also initiated the construction of recycling centres located at certain areas to accommodate demands for recycled products.

“For example, in Meru, Klang, the recycling centre receives almost 20 tonnes of recycle items every day. This is among the initiatives that have been done,” Ng added.

Recently, the federal government announced its target to have six WTE incinerator plants in the country by next year.

In the pipelines are WTE development in Sungai Udang (Melaka), Bukit Payung (Terengganu), Seelong (Johor), Samling (Selangor) and Jabor in Pahang.

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the tender for Sungai Udang project will open in September and upon completion, the facility is expected to receive 1,000 tonnes of solid waste daily.

It can also produce up to 25MW of green energy to provide electricity to 25,000 households around the area.

Last year, it was reported that the WTE plant in Tanah Merah, Negri Sembilan, is already under testing mode and will be ready to be commercialised at any time.