What do you mean by a holistic approach to waste management?

Basically what we mean by a holistic approach is that Resource Recovery-Waste to Energy technology comes with wide-ranging benefits that positively impact society, the environment and the economy.
Resource Recovery – Waste to Energy technology is a sustainable solution as it can keep pace with population growth and can be modified to deal with a large range of waste profiles
By generating revenue from the waste, disposal costs can be kept to an affordable level which financially benefits the municipal councils and therefore ultimately the rate- payers.
It also has a direct positive effect on the environment because it eliminates methane production and prevents leachate from getting into the water. The process also improves public health by eliminating disease–spreading vectors, like rates and flies, which traditionally populate landfills and often spread out into the surrounding community.
In summary, the Resource Recovery - Waste to Energy approach improves public health, has a positive impact on the environment and, by creating wealth from something that has traditionally been regarded as worthless, it saves money.

What can be recovered?

At present our technology is recovering up to 80 percent of municipal waste.
Once the waste arrives at the plant the bags are split open and the leachate is drained off and sent to the effluent treatment plant where it is converted to Class A water by a series of biological processes.
Then the organic material is removed and sent for composting. After a series of mechanical screening, items that can be re-cycled are removed and sent to the recovery centre where they are either further processed, in the case of plastics, or sold on to third party dealers as is the case with aluminium.
The high calorific waste is then separated from the inert or other items and is sent to the RDF plant where it is converted into fuel.

What is the composition of municipal solid waste?
According to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government more than 95 percent of household waste goes to landfills; less than 5 percent is currently being recycled or recovered nationwide.
This waste consists of:
47% organic material
15% paper/cardboard
14% plastics
4% metals
3% glass/ceramic
17% other materials that cannot be recovered

What happens to the waste that can’t be recovered?
The Inert or waste that cannot be recovered is sent to a sanitary landfill.

How much methane is produced by garbage?

This totally depends on the composition of the waste. In Malaysia household waste contains a high level of organic material so methane levels are quite high.
We calculate that if the Resource Recovery – Waste to Energy approach, or any approach that eliminates this organic material from landfills, is adopted nationwide we would reduce our production of greenhouse gases by 13 percent.
This calculation is based on the fact that landfill methane is 21 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in contributing to global warming.

A thousand tons of MSW/day produces methane that is the equivalent of 300,000 tons of C02 per year. In 2010 Malaysia produced 21,000 tons of MSW per day, and the landfill methane this produced was equivalent to 3 million tons of CO2 for that year. So if we calculate over a 10 -year period where, by 2020, we can expect to be producing 30,000 tons of waste per day the total amount of landfill methane eliminated from the environment through the use of Resource Recovery – Waste to Energy technology would equal the equivalent of 40 million tons of CO2 over the 10-year period.

Can methane be collected from the landfills and used as fuel too?
Yes, but unfortunately in Malaysia only 6 out of 176 landfills are sanitary and therefore have the capability to collect methane. Most of the landfills aren’t lined to prevent soil and groundwater contamination or vented for the safe release and collection of methane.

How can adopting Resource Recovery – Waste to Energy technology reduce the carbon footprint?

A conventional power station produces 0.92kg of CO2 per kWh whereas Waste to Energy technology produces only 0.138 kg of CO2 per kWh.

What can householders do to improve the situation?

You can separate the organic waste from the other items. If you have the space you can process it yourself by composting it or setting up a worm farm. You can also make an enzyme solution from vegetable and fruit skins, which can be used as a replacement for detergent-based household cleaners. If you don’t have space to process it then at least put it in a separate bag so that it doesn’t contaminate the other dry waste.