INCINERATOR ???

Just this morning (Sunday 7th Nov 2010) I noticed that the newspaper The Star did a poll on if we agree to having an INCINERATOR as compared to dumping our rubbish into the LANDFILL areas ???

The question is.....does it have to be the way of a LANDFILL or even the INCINERATOR to rid the waste problems.

Yes the days of the landfill has had it's use but with all the environmental awareness the landfill method as a solution may not be the answer now. This is because we are using more and more land to use it as a landfill purpose. There will never be an end to the increase of waste production. Population numbers are increasing by the minute and with more population there will be more waste being created. As a general rule it is estimated that between 1.2 Kg to 2.5 Kg of all waste is being generated on a daily basis per head. The amount generated would be dependent on the effluency of the nation. Just imagine how much waste is being produced everyday !!!

To solve the problem of getting rid of the waste we "throw" them into the landfill. This is solving one problem and creating another problem. Today with the amount of plastics being used and we just discard them....they land themselves in the landfill. Plastics do not decompose even for 500 years.

Years down the line....when the landfill area "seems" to be stable maybe some development will be on top of it. How stable is that development area ? What about the gases that's going to be produced as a result of chemical reaction ? These gases are likely to be combustable. It is in a way....a time bomb if we are not careful.

What about the amount of leachate that's going to be produced ? Where is the leachate going to go ? As the leachate is in a solution or liquid form....it will follow the gravitational flow just as water would. It will leached into the underground water system. This has cause so much problem in many countries already (without mentioning the country's name).

In short landfill methods has had it's useful years but with advance in technology and the care towards environment...it is no longer a preferred method of disposing waste material.

Now....what about the INCINERATOR ?

Personally even the incinerator is not a good method to categorize it as a cure for all. It may be a better solution compared to the landfill method but don't we have other methods other than these two methods ?? Before I give my opinion on the other methods let me give my views on the incinerator.

Again this is another " solve a problem and create another problem" situation. Why do I say this ?
It's because at high temperature you can burn away the waste material easily. However there would be issues such as what the nearby residents want. Having an incinerator nearby would mean the smell, the trafficq flow leading to the dumping site. At the same time, having an incinerator as big as the one proposed as in Broga would mean that it is HUGE. This huge incinerator would act like a small volcano, emitting heat and there is also the question of DIOXINS. Yes we solve the problem by burning the waste material but the will be the amount of heat being generated from this plant which will in a way disrupt the balance of the environment. The byproduct that is going to be produced is the ASH. How much ash can we use....not much. So there will be a surplus of garbage ash which will not be use for anything.

Incinerator(s) is OK if you are short of ideas, but there are other ways to solve the waste problems.

With the advancement of technology there are already some brighter methods of solving the waste management. In the developed countries the way that simplifies things is that it becomes the norm for EVERYBODY to deposit their waste in separate bins and containers. It is easier as the society is "programmed" to do so. Glasses with glasses. Paper with paper. Plastic with plastics and so forth.

There is a method where papers are recycled and making them into finished products like composite wood or even bricks. It can be economical if done on large scale.

There is also a Malaysian technology that converts plastic bags and plastic wrappers into high grade DIESEL that can be used directly or even traded in the international market for a better price as it was analyzed to be better than Euro 4 and have even surpass the standards set for Euro 5.

The construction industry waste could even be recycled to make into building material. Depending on the density of the final product it can even be used as wall bricks to withstand some armor piercing shells of certain caliber. Such premise that use them would be important building such as Government buildings, Residences of VVIP, Ministry of Defence, armory bunkers and the likes.

Again these technologies are available now. Some of these technologies are home grown but somehow or other don't seem to be on the radar screen of any Ministry. For example the plastic to diesel project....this is a real WHOPPER. Since the production plant is in Perlis it would really give Perlis an image booster. Not only that....also the name of Malaysia.

WHY ?

Because it is the only one in this region and Malaysia has it. The beauty is that it is designed by Malaysian and the catalyst that is being used in the whole process is being manufactured locally by Malaysians. There are other countries such as Germany and Korea that has got similar machines but the difference is in the different type of catalyst being used. Greater detail of the PLASTIC TO DIESEL PROJECT can be discussed later.

All over the world....plastic is a big problem. There is no one country that can say that they don't have any problem with plastics. Otherwise how come there are NO PLASTIC DAYS, some even have a ban on plastics. All these ban and partial ban is because people recognize that plastic is a big problem.
PLASTIC IS A PROBLEM WHEN YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO SOLVE THAT PROBLEM....

But now we have the solution on how to convert plastic bags and wrappers into high grade diesel....so it is no longer a big problem. Plus the diesel can be used for power generation, transportation, farming and many more usage. This should be the direction of how and what to do with the plastics because plastic if dumped into the landfill will not decompose and if burned may produce noxious gases. We have got the think positively.

UNTIL THE NEXT TIME.....