Waste-to-energy (WTE) solutions should be deployed only as a last resort to manage Malaysia’s solid waste issues. Efforts should instead be focused on getting people to reduce their consumption and the waste they generate, said a representative from Penang Green Council.
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This month, Penang’s state government will start enforcing a reintroduced policy for the segregation of waste at its source, while working with the council to produce campaign materials to educate Penang residents about how waste should be correctly separated and recycled. First introduced in 2016, the policy aims to reduce waste and lengthen the lifespan of the Pulau Burung landfill, Penang’s only sanitary landfill. Residents will need to separate recyclable waste such as paper, plastics and glass from general waste such as food waste.
Speaking at a panel discussion following the inaugural screening of Eco-Business’s documentary Wasted in Kuala Kumpur, Josephine Tan, general manager of Penang Green Council, suggested for incineration and WTE solutions to be treated only as a last resort, both for the Penang state as well as for Malaysia. WTE plants require a minimum volume of waste – large-scale incinerators need about 100,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste a year – to operate and generate a return on investment, and hence creates a dependency on waste, she said.
“For now, Penang does not have any incineration plant…In fact, whether it is in my personal view or the council’s perspective, instead of WTE solutions, we would rather educate the locals to reduce waste first,” she said, adding that food waste, which makes up 40 per cent of total waste generated by Penang residents, is the main problem the state needs to tackle.
There are hence other more appropriate solutions for the Penang state to adopt for better waste management, such as waste decomposition using black soldier flies, suggested Tan. Food waste can also be converted into biogas, a type of natural gas.
In recent years, the Malaysian government has adopted the development of solid WTE plants as its new direction to manage solid waste disposal, which it says will use advanced technology proven successful in Europe, Japan and China. In May this year, the ministry of housing said it had identified 18 locations to build these plants.
The country has plans to build at least seven new WTE facilities, despite protests and criticism from some citizens and non-governmental organisations, who say the plants delay a transition to a circular economy and creates more pollution.
Chong Kok Wai (left) and Sunita Rajakumar speaking in the panel discussion following the inaugural Malaysian screening of “Wasted” at Aurum Theatre at TRX Mall. Image: Vincent Tan / Eco-Business.
The hour-long private screening of the award-winning documentary Wasted at TRX Mall saw nearly 150 guests attending from Malaysia’s corporate sector. The film calls out the existing gaps in waste management across Asia, and highlights solutions that pressingly need to be adopted by policymakers and businesses.
On the panel, Climate Governance Malaysia founder Sunita Rajakumar also expressed support for better consumer education, noting that the correct pricing of energy usage and its emissions could force a reconsideration of energy-driven solutions to waste management.
“If we were to price energy accurately, including the emissions and the shadow pricing of emissions or cost of carbon, which is almost US$100 per tonne in the European Union and the United Kingdom, I think people will think twice before they try to throw an energy-driven solution to waste,” she said.
Climate Governance Malaysia is the country chapter of the World Economic Forum’s initiative on climate governance by independent directors. The panel was moderated by Eco-Business founder and managing director Jessica Cheam.
Penang Green Council general manager Josephine Tan said incinerators and waste-to-energy plants to dispose of waste should be a last resort, with focus given to education and awareness on consumption and waste reduction first. Image: Vincent Tan / Eco-Business
Aside from imposing extended producer responsibility (EPR) rules on manufacturers and businesses, Sunita said if consumers had to make more informed decisions by paying for waste collection, mirroring existing systems in other countries where only certain, more expensive bags of waste were collected, this would help drive down waste generated.
EPR is an environmental policy that places responsibility on producers to manage the disposal and recycling of their post-consumer products, to encourage more sustainable product design and reduce waste.
However, Sunita said managing waste required a raft of policies with no simple quick fix, and it was important to understand the scale of the waste problem first.
Previously, proposals to build waste incinerators or WTE plants have been met by vociferous opposition from residents. Earlier this year, residents in the Selangor town of Rawang staged protests against the planned construction of an RM4.5 billion (US$963 million) plant, fearing health issues from the proposed plant’s emissions.
However, Malaysia also faces a looming waste disposal issue, where its landfills are expected to completely fill-up by 2050, hence the urgent need for sustainable waste management solutions.
Chong Kok Wai, group head of legal, compliance and sustainability for payment systems provider GHL Systems, said incentivising businesses and producers to behave responsibly when it comes to waste management also depended on the specific sector.
“We know that electronic waste is the number one problem in Malaysia, ” Chong noted, adding that Malaysia’s Environmental Quality Act 1974 had recently been amended to increase the fine for illegal import of e-waste into Malaysia to a maximum of RM10 million (US$2.1 million).
Even with the increased penalty, Chong believes that problems with illegal disposal of e-waste as well as spotty enforcement would not completely disappear. The government will need to work with businesses to resolve the issue, he suggested.
Adding to Chong’s remarks, Cheam shared about the team’s experience while filming the documentary. At some waste disposal sites, attempts at filming were sometimes met with resistance and even threats of physical harm, she said.
The documentary shines a spotlight on the local waste workers, who play a key role in waste management in many cities, such as Dharavi, on the outskirts of Mumbai, India, where the Wasted team filmed in.
“They make up the unseen workforce that we often take for granted. I think it is crucial that we bring that up in the documentary,” Cheam told the audience.
The Malaysian government has said an EPR plan for plastic products will be implemented in phases between 2023 and 2025 before entering a mandatory phase in 2026, according to the Malaysia Plastics Sustainability Roadmap. No updates have so far been provided on the progress on this initiative.
