Generating energy from waste whether that’s electricity or heat that can then be used in homes and businesses is a logical part towards applying circular thinking.
Waste to energy (WtE) is one of the circular economy solutions that have impact on economy, social, and environment.
It also helps manage efficiently the use of natural resources, reduced emissions, job creation, and fostering innovation.
There are number of ways of generating energy from waste. These include combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas recovery.
Waste is anything we want to get rid of.
Waste generation is correlated with economic development and population growth.
There are different types of wastes and they can be classified according to their state such as solid, liquid, and air.
Globally, a large percentage of waste (40%) goes to landfill and about 19% is either recycled and composted. An estimated 11% goes through modern thermal treatment.
Malaysia disposes of more than 30,000 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) daily, which amounts to 1.17kg of waste daily per capita.
Our waste will increase to 49,670 tonnes in 2030. The average composition of Malaysian municipal solid waste (MSW) consists of about 45% food, 24% plastic, 7% paper materials, 6% iron, 4% wood, and 3% glass, with the remaining percentage belonging to others.
That data shows that that a remarkable amount of Malaysian MSW is recyclable.
WtE can be more broadly described as taking something someone does not want and transforming it into something someone else needs or wants.
Turning waste into energy has the potential to be a highly effective solution for managing waste and reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills.
When executed well, WtE systems can provide clean, renewable energy and improving air quality.
Sarawak embarking for a more sustainable solution to waste management and WtE not only an effective solution to the state’s waste disposal system, it also an avenue for new power generation.
Sarawak Government introducing new bill on energy that will protect, oversee, and regulate the efforts of developing Sarawak green energy.
Sarawak wants to make use of wastes to generate energy through the process of biomass.
“This is what we call a circular economy by using waste to generate energy,” Premier of Sarawak, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg was quoted in September 2023.
