Malaysia Plans to Develop at Least Six Waste-to-Energy Projects by 2021

July 2020

The Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) in Malaysia plans to issue an open tender for local and foreign companies to have at least six waste-to-energy (WTE) plants by 2021. The exercise will begin in September this year in the states of Melaka, Johor (two locations), Pahang dan Kedah.

KPKT’s Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin stated that the government is positively considering expanding more WTEs nationwide because the system is cleaner, more productive and economical compared to the existing landfilling practice in Malaysia. KPKT is still evaluating suitable WTE technologies to be implemented in Malaysia such as biogas plant and thermal treatment.

The construction of Malaysia’s first WTE plant in Ladang Tanah Merah, Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, which is being developed by Cypark Resources Bhd, has been delayed several times and has been delayed again recently due to the pandemic. According to the plan, the next WTE project will be in Sungai Udang, Melaka, followed by the implementation of the same system at landfills in Terengganu (Bukit Payung), Johor (Seelong), Selangor (Samling) and Pahang (Jabor). The Melaka state government had reportedly planned to build a WTE plant worth MYR 3.6 million (USD 844,575) on a 3.84-hectare site to address the problem of waste disposal.

Currently, most of the solid waste in Malaysia is sent to landfills. While developing WtE projects, the government is also working on improving the management of the landfills. According to KPKT, all new landfills in Malaysia will be Level Four sanitary, which involves the employment of high-density polyethene membrane liner to protect groundwater, leachate collection system along with leachate treatment facility and a comprehensive landfill gas management system. KPKT also plans to safely close all open landfills and replace them with a regional sanitary landfill and transfer stations. Currently, 17 open landfills have been safely closed and under the 12th Malaysia Plan (2020- 2025), KPKT plans to safely close 14 non-sanitary landfills and build five sanitary landfills. Currently, Malaysia has only 21 sanitary landfills, while 117 are non-sanitary.

(Source: Malay Mail; Malaysia Reserves)

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