RUBBISH LANDFILLS AT CRITICAL LEVEL

The New Straits Times, Thursday, 23 May 2002 Rubbish landfills at critical level
KUALA LUMPUR, Fri. - Alam Flora Sdn Bhd expects the amount of solid waste generated in its concession areas to double in the next 20 years, from 3.2 million to 7.7 million tonnes a year.
Alam Flora chief executive officer Mohamed Siraj Abdul Razack said this posed a big challenge as most of the 20 landfills have already reached the critical level.
These landfills can only handle 3.1 million tonnes of waste a year, while only three per cent of the wastes generated currently are reused or recycled.
"With landfills having reached critical levels, we will go on a big scale to promote the '3R programme' - reduce, reuse and recycle," he said.
He added that he hoped the recycling rate would reach 24 per cent by 2023.
Moreover, the number of landfills will be reduced to seven by 2023, catering for 3.6 million tonnes a year. The landfills will be in Sabak Bernam, Rawang, Pahang, Raub, between Maran and Jerantut, Kuantan and Rompin.
Siraj said of the 3.2 million tonnes of waste expected to be generated this year, only 3.1 million will be collected as the rest were in areas outside its jurisdiction or where there are no road access.
He said the company collected an average of 8,542 tonnes a day, and this was expected to increase to 16,172 tonnes per day by 2023.
Alam Flora was formed in December 1995 after being awarded the concession by the Government to take over solid waste management for 44 local authorities in Selangor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan and Federal Territory including Putrajaya. He said Alam Flora has drawn up a 20-year master plan with an allocation of RM6 billion. The master plan (2002-2023) will be implemented when the concession is signed with the Federal Government as soon as Parliament passes the Solid Waste Management Bill.
It is learnt that the Bill and consequential amendments to the Local Government Act ready.
The Bill would transfer the rights on solid waste management from local authorities to the Federal Government which is empowered to enter into an agreement with Alam Flora.
Under the privatisation exercise, Siraj said the company will start composting waste in 2010, starting with 132,731 tonnes per year and increasing to 621,364 tonnes per year by 2023.
"A large incinerator costing RM1.5 billion is also scheduled to be completed by 2006," he said.
In 2010, 1.3 million tonnes of waste will be incinerated, gradually increasing to 1.7 million tonnes a year by 2023.
It is understood that another site in Selangor, believed to be somewhere in the south, is being identified for another incinerator.
The privatisation, Siraj said, includes the takeover of all staff, vehicles, facilities and contractors involved in the solid waste management activities from the local authorities.
Currently, Alam Flora has a workforce of more than 177 professional waste management engineers, planners and scientists as well as 4,200 workers.
Siraj said the master plan would see substantial capital works programmes in terms of construction of transfer stations, fully-engineered sanitary landfills, composting plants, drop-off centres, material recovery facilities, incinerators and other related facilities.
"We will also start replacing the 800 collection vehicles with more modern and 'leak-proof' vehicles to ensure a clean and efficient operation." He said bins will also be standardised in various sizes.