As part of Malaysia’s thrust into the Renewable Energy (RE) generation, experts are urging for landfills to be phased out and replaced by Waste to Energy (WTE) plants as no space will be available for landfills by 2050.

Every day, all over the country, garbage trucks dump some 38,000 metric tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste at dumpsites with food waste being the largest component, followed by plastic, paper, mixed organics, wood and others.

Presently, there are 165 landfills, eight sanitary landfills and three inert landfills for materials such as sand and concrete and they are all beginning to run out of space and several agencies and environmental activists are raising the alarm.

Alam Flora and Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation are stating that the time has come for Malaysia to change its solid waste disposal approach to WTE technology as it is also Renewable Energy.

Experts contacted explained that compared with solar energy, which requires lots of open space, and hydrogen fuel, which is expensive and not economically feasible, WTE is the best option for the national RE target.

The advantages of WTE is that its carbon footprint is very small and it is safe and reliable and can operate in any weather condition, reduce waste volume by more than 90 percent, reduce the load on landfills and produce stable, odour free residue.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE