By Nasuha Badrul Huzaini
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Financial constraints remain one of the biggest challenges in addressing waste management for a heavily populated state like Selangor, says KDEB Waste Management Sdn Bhd (KDEBWM) managing director Ramli Mohd Tahir.
He said much more can be done if waste operators are provided with more allocations to run their operations, where many aspects can be improved rather focusing solely on garbage collection and public cleaning.
“Our current predicament is the lack of modern facilities such as waste-to-energy (WTE) plants. In the coming decade, this problem will become more serious as the distance between landfills and residential areas begin to decrease.
“Concurrently, we do not have the funds to invest in new waste disposal facilities. Only the Federal government would be able to provide such funding.
“In Malaysia, we collect nearly 35,000 tonnes of waste on average on a daily basis, of which 95 per cent goes to landfills. We often talk about achieving a sustainable living yet we do nothing in terms of treatment and waste disposal,” Ramli said.
He was speaking as a panellist at the Smart Waste and River Management Forum, held as part of the Smart City and Digital Economy Convention 2022 (SDEC).
SDEC is organised by the Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec), under the ongoing Selangor International Business Summit (SIBS) 2022.
Other forum panellist include Undersecretary of Penang State Secretariat Nur Aishah Md Norodin, Secretary-General of Global Organisation of Smart City, Taipei Smart City Project Management Office Dr Lee Chen-Yu and Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd managing director Syaiful Azman Nordin.
Ramli added there is a lot to learn from developed countries such as Singapore and Taiwan on how they manage their waste.
“They collect the waste, burn it and get the heat and steam, they run the turbines to produce energy and pump it into the whole area. From this whole process, 95 per cent of the waste collected is disposed of within the plant,” he said.
SIBS 2022 is taking place at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, from October 6 until October 9. With approximately 906 booths from 623 companies, this year’s summit aims to receive some 30,000 visitors during its duration.
