Batu Arang folks fret over waste facility, but expert says not to worry

 Academic, who is an expert on waste management, says modern technology makes it possible to contain any risk resulting from burning refuse.

Experts say the risks associated with the process of converting waste to energy has been contained, so there is no cause for worry. (Envato Element pic)

PETALING JAYA:

A plan for a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in Batu Arang has raised concerns among residents in the area, but an expert in waste management has given an assurance that there is nothing to worry about.

Academic Agamutu Pariatamby said that while the residents’ misgivings are valid, modern WTE plants have been designed to contain the risks that they fear.

The residents’ worries revolve around the Sultan Idris Shah (SIS) Green Energy Plant for which the environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been approved recently.

Despite the latest development, the residents have vowed to continue their protest, insisting that the plant could cause pollution.

The project is to be developed by KDEB Waste Management in collaboration with YTL Power International.

Zulfaizi Rusli, 40, who was born and raised in Batu Arang, told FMT there are concerns that while the lorries are transporting the garbage to the plant, dirty water could leak onto the roads and then drains into the rivers that flow through the district.

Sungai Garing and its tributary Sungai Batu Arang flow through the district. The area surrounding these two rivers is a popular destination for hikers and cycling enthusiasts.

Longtime resident Rusli Sharif, 71, fears that odour emanating from the garbage could also have a negative impact on tourism. “We are also worried that the air quality may be affected,” Rusli, who has lived in Batu Arang for the past half century, said.

Zulfaizi, a father of three, said there also are concerns that frequent entry of heavy vehicles into the area could damage the roads.

For musician Hashiamaldin Bazin, 58, any word on the project only brings back memories of the foul smell emanating from nearby pig farms. He fears the waste facility could cause the same problem.

Pig rearing operations in the area ceased in the 1980s, driven by several factors, including efforts to curb the widespread discharge of untreated animal waste and water pollution.

Hashiamaldin expressed doubts that anything could be done to neutralise the stench from the waste that will now come in to feed the WTE plant.

He stressed that residents do not object to technology, but they just want to be assured that it will not have a negative impact on them.

For Rusli, it comes down to a simple matter: “How do you expect people to come to your heritage town if you have an incinerator?”

Agamutu, a senior professor at the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development at Sunway University, said ordinary incinerators and WTE plants are often grouped together because both involve combustion.

An incinerator, he explained, is a combustion chamber, but the difference between a traditional plant and a WTE plant lies in energy generation and the safeguards during combustion.

He said modern WTE facilities are designed to contain odour when waste is delivered to the plant.

“They use what is called negative pressure. The moment the door opens for the lorry to offload, the vacuum inside will actually suck the air in from outside.

“As the air is sucked in, so is the odour,” he told FMT.

Agamutu said there also are systems in place that will treat any emission released through the combustion process to ensure it is no longer harmful.

For instance, he said, when plastic is burned, toxic chemicals may be released, but modern WTE plants are designed with new technology such as catalytic converters and fibre filters, to remove those chemicals.

“Ultimately, modern WTE facilities are subject to detailed assessment on the same issues raised by residents, including proximity to homes, odour and lorry movement,” Agamutu stressed.

“Any waste to energy plant has to go through a detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA). Experts will review the EIA and look into all these issues such as proximity to houses or lorry transportation,” he said, adding that a detailed EIA is prepared by both government officers and experts in air pollution and traffic control, among others.

The proposal for the WTE plant was first mooted in 2019. In a 2023 response to protests against the project, Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari said it would not be like “incinerators from the 1990s” as it would not use old technology.

The plant is designed to process up to 2,400 tonnes of municipal wastes daily to help alleviate pressure on overflowing landfills across six local councils in Selangor. - FMT