Abstract
The elevation of waste generation subsequent to population growth has become a severe environmental topic in Malaysia. Since most of the waste is being dumped into a landfill, the open dumpsite, or unsanitary landfills which are not constructed with proper engineering plan, severe impacts on the environment result. The energy demand in Malaysia increased with the growing population, but reliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity has created another greenhouse gas contributor. Alternatively, waste-to-energy technology solves the problem of increasing waste by converting the waste to a renewable energy source. Malaysia has moved towards landfill gas recovery system and incineration for waste energy recovery. The recovery system and refuse-derived fuel plant achieved expectation; however, the incineration plants have failed due to the opposition of the public, lack of funding and technician expertise, and other technical issues. The solid waste management practices lacking separation and recycling sources, become an obstacle for development. The government puts effort into solving the current issue by promoting recycling in the public, enforcing the legislation, and approaching new technologies for better solid waste management practice in the future. This paper aims to discuss the application of energy recovery from municipal solid waste in Malaysia.
Highlights
Malaysia is a developing country that experiences rapid urbanization and population growth
Solid waste management is a great environmental concern in Malaysia owing to the rapid urbanization and modernization
WtE technologies serve as the alternative approach in Malaysia rather than landfill that can achieve several outcomes such as reducing the waste volumes disposed in landfill, increasing the lifespan of the landfill, generating electricity to fulfil the energy demand, cutting down the greenhouse gas emission from the landfill and fossil-fuel based energy generation and minimizing the environmental impacts
Summary
Malaysia is a developing country that experiences rapid urbanization and population growth. Most of the MSW ends up being disposed in the unsanitary landfills and open dumpsites without further treatment It creates a serious environmental issue including soil and groundwater contamination through migration of leachate, emission of greenhouse gas (GHG) that leads to global warming and climate change, air pollution as well as fires and explosion incidents [4]. The MSW that entered the landfill is decreased, the use of fossil fuel and other non-renewable energy are reduced, and eventually the emitted GHG is minimized. This paper covers the policies related to MSW and renewable energy (RE), the solid waste management practice, and introduction to WtE technologies implemented in Malaysia. - High capital cost - Skilled labour is required - The efficiency can be affected by high moisture content - High energy consumption if moisture content is high - The quality of fuel is affected by the properties of waste. - May cause unpleasant smell - Have fire and explosion risk - The production of landfill gas is affected by various factors [7,11,13,15]
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