By BAVANI M | Apr 10, 2010
Experts gather to talk about waste disposal
WASTE is a resource and reducing greenhouse gases has become an urgent agenda for all developing cities.
These were the key messages at a session on Waste Management at the Asian Metrocity Summit — Kuala Lumpur 2010 organised by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the Asian World Summit recently.
The panel, which comprised experts in waste management from Indonesia, Australia and South Korea, drove home the point that preventing and managing waste was a vital element in sustainable development and crucial in judging a city’s livability standards.
The panellists, having tabled their views and suggestions, also said it was crucial to reduce waste that ended up in landfills to preserve the environment.
According to Waste Management Association of Australia (WMAA) national vice-president Mike Ritchie, who spoke on the role of advance waste management treatment in Australia, Australian case studies on waste management are useful in Malaysia as both countries generated a lot of organic waste.
“Efforts should be made to cut down organic waste reaching the landfills because organic waste generates methane gas and contributes to climate change.
“The answer lies in home composting, organic collection bins and alternative waste systems (AWT) such as anaerobic digestion and incineration,” he said.
South Korean speaker Jang Eun-Mi, who is the manager of a Technical Support Team from the Sudokwon Landfill, spoke of how the government took over an old landfill in 1978 in the most sustainable manner.
Jang said since then, the government had focused on the development of waste treatment technologies to enable it to manage the capital’s landfill site in a more systematic and sanitary manner.
“So far, we have been able to create new technologies on leachate treatment and landfill technology to reduce the odour generated by the site. The landfill’s gas power plant has also been able to generate energy for residents,” Jang said.
Meanwhile, Indonesian panellist Yuyun Ismawati, director of the Balifocus Foundation, shared some of the sustainable community-based waste and sanitation management programmes that she implemented in her country.
The programmes has provided employment for lower-income groups and empowered them to improve the environment.
“The system in Indonesia is still very conservative and we actively promote community participation and management,” she said.
“It’s basically a service by the people and for the people.
“Our waste management programmes also provide employment for the poor and at the same time they learn about preserving the environment,” she added.
All three panellists drove home the point that their governments are doing everything they can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and that it is also everyone’s responsibility to ensure a greener world.
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