KUALA LUMPUR – Eighteen waste-to-energy (WTE) plants are planned for almost all states in the peninsula by 2040, Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He listed the states, which exclude Perlis and Negri Sembilan.
The WTE plant for the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur will be based in Rawang.
In Kedah, WTE plants are planned for Jabi, Alor Star as well as in Padang Cina in Kulim, while in Johor, they are slated for Bukit Payung in Batu Pahat, Seelong in Kulai and Sedili in Kota Tinggi.
In Pahang, Jabor, Jerangau, Kuantan as well as Belengu in Temerloh, have been identified as areas for WTE plants, while Sg Udang in Melaka is a potential site.
These states and Kuala Lumpur have adopted the Solid Waste And Public Cleansing Management Act 2007 that aims to standardise proper control and regulation of matters related to solid waste management.
Nga was speaking during question time in reply to Sim Tze Tzin (Bayan Baru-PH), who asked about all the states scheduled to have WTE plants.
Other locations are Jeram in Kuala Selangor, Tg 12 in Kuala Langat and Rawang 2 in Selangor; Pulau Burung in Penang; Lahat in Ipoh and Taiping and Manjung in Perak; Tertak Batu in Marang, Terengganu; and Jedok in Tanah Merah, Kelantan.
“At this point, the WTE plants’ construction is still at the planning stage and implementation is subject to the government’s financial ability as well as the WTE model offered,” said Nga.
“Through this transformation plan, the country’s solid waste management will also contribute to Malaysia’s target to achieve renewable energy capacity of 70% by 2050 and reduce carbon emissions by 45% by 2030.”
He said a survey by the National Solid Waste Management Department had also found that WTE plants were capable of generating around 600MW of renewable energy.
To a supplementary question by Wan Razali Wan Nor (Kuantan-PN) on the plants’ safety and risks, Nga said the ministry had an ongoing survey to compare WTE models used in different countries.
He said Singapore had five WTEs, while similar plants had long been in use to produce renewable energy in Vietnam, China and Europe. WTE technology itself has been in use since the 1980s, he added.
“So, maybe it is a blessing in disguise for Malaysia to start (now) having these plants, so that we can learn from other countries’ past mistakes.
“We will also be adopting the latest technology modules in line with the government’s principle that is zero-waste, zero-toxic and zero-landfill,” Nga added. – July 1, 2024