Dirty Business Addendum

Way back in March, I had a bit of a rant about how the Selangor State government had decided to spend RM6.5 million of taxpayers money to state controlled Worldwide Landfills Sdn. Bhd.to close the Sg. Kembong landfill, when 18 months earlier Chief Minister, Khalid Ibrahim, had already authorised the rehabilitation of the same landfill by another, privately-funded,company called CLEAR. Some of the comments I got highlighted some factual errors in my research and accused me of being non-journalistic (which I don't claim to be). One person even asked if I worked for CLEAR (which I don't), but none of them dealt with the real issue I was raising, which was the squandering of rate payers money to do a job that didn't need doing in the first place.

CLEAR at work in February 2010 mining a section of the Sg Kembong landfill.

Screening the garbage to separate and reclaim reusable items and Refuse Derived Fuel.

Anyway insanity prevailed and on August 1st 2010 Worldwide Landfills officially assumed control of the Sg. Kembong landfill and began work to close it off and this is what happened...

Semenyih plant closed due to high levels of ammonia

By DHARMENDER SINGH and CHARLES FERNANDEZ
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

PUTRAJAYA: More than 1.2 million consumers in four districts have been hit by water supply disruptions after the Sungai Semenyih water treatment plant closed due to high levels of ammonia in water drawn from Sungai Kembong.

Read the full story here

I make no bones about being a rabid supporter of Waste to Energy technology, not because of any self- interest but because it makes sense. To begin with, landfills cost a lot: First of all you need to buy a piece of land, then you have to pay someone to operate the landfill, Further costs are incurred for ongoing maintenance and then even more money is required to close the landfill when it reaches capacity. In addition to the millions this all adds up to, there are the hidden costs in terms of the environment and public health.

Waste to Energy technology doesn't cost the taxpayer a single sen. it's a privately-funded initiative where revenue is created by converting garbage to Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) and reusable items like plastics and metals. It eliminates the need for so many landfills as about 80 percent of the rubbish is reclaimed. This in turn reduces the amount of the landfill gas, methane, entering the atmosphere which has a positive impact on global warming.

Last December at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, pledged a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 2005 levels, provided of course, that Malaysia received transfer of technology and financing from the so called developed world.

Well, have I got news for you Mr. Najib! My friends in the garbage business have calculated that up to 13 percent of the overall 40 percent promised reduction could be achieved by adopting Waste to Energy technology nationwide. And, there's no need to import foreign technology or look for overseas investment as the technology we need to convert garbage to energy is already here and it's Malaysian.

STENCH FROM THE DUMP

Aerial of Bukit Tagar landfill which is so stinky you can smell it from the PLUS highway turn-off and this is one of Selangor's showpieces!

 
I just had another little  foray into the wonderful world of garbage and discovered a couple of things that really disturb me:

1. Selayang Municipal Council pays between RM 2.5 -3 Million to Alam Flora per month for garbage collection and disposal, which calculated at 400 tons a day for 30 days equates to a payment of RM208 per ton. Then add on the RM30 per ton tipping fee at Bukit Tagar and we're talking RM238 per ton.  That's outrageous when you think what they (and the rate payers) are getting for their money.

2. I naively thought that garbage trucks were weighed as they arrived and left the landfill to determine the tonnage dumped and therefore the charge to the local authority. Apparently it doesn't work like that at all.  Most local authorities pay a fixed rate for waste collection and disposal so there's no incentive for the operators to actually take the garbage to the landfill which is presumably why there's so much illegal dumping everywhere...trying to maximise profits.

If there was a serious commitment on behalf of the government and local authorities to keep the environment free of garbage then the payment would be on a weight basis.  I believe this is the system in Sarawak and that as a result the garbage collectors are very diligent about making sure all the waste gets to a proper landfill site. Actually Sarawak seem to have got their solid waste management operating much more efficiently than over in the Peninsula...other local authorities please take note.