Waste Management Strategy In Developing Country: A Study Case Of Waste Management Otions In Kota Kinabalu Sabah, Malaysia

Abstract

Much has been said in recent years about wаste management policy, and recently the management of wаste has found itself moving up the political agenda. The government is beginning to demonstrate some political leadership in its announcement of the Cabinet Office study into wаste strategy. The need for change is more pressing than ever, and we are now in a position where we have to ensure that words become deeds. This research primarily focuses on the issues of sustainability and wаste management in developing countries. For this study Malaysia is chosen as a country where waste management has become a major problem. Blessed with favourable natural resources, the Malaysia has traditionally been reliant on landfill sites as a low-cost wаste disposal option. However, for the sake of intergenerational equity, such end-of-pipe solutions to the Malaysia's ever increasing volumes of wаste are unsustainable in the long-term. The challenge of moving towards a more resource efficient society is multifaceted and must be tackled on several levels. The result from the life cycle assessment analysis shows that depending on landfill alone are not sustainable in long term. Landfill must be cooperating with other method of waste management such as recycling or landfill with energy recovery

Full text

WASTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY IN DEVELOPING
COUNTRY: A STUDY CASE OF WASTE MANAGEMENT
OTIONS IN KOTA KINABALU SABAH, MALAYSIA
Mohammad Tahir MAPA, Aliakbar GULASAN, Nordin SAKKE
School of Socail Sciences, Univeristi Malaysia Sabah, Sabah, MALAYSIA
ABSTRACT
Much has been said in recent years about wаste management policy, and recently the management of wаste has
found itself moving up the political agenda. The government is beginning to demonstrate some political
leadership in its announcement of the Cabinet Office study into wаste strategy. The need for change is more
pressing than ever, and we are now in a position where we have to ensure that words become deeds. This research
primarily focuses on the issues of sustainability and wаste management in developing countries. For this study
Malaysia is chosen as a country where waste management has become a major problem. Blessed with favourable
natural resources, the Malaysia has traditionally been reliant on landfill sites as a low-cost wаste disposal option.
However, for the sake of intergenerational equity, such end-of-pipe solutions to the Malaysia's ever increasing
volumes of wаste are unsustainable in the long-term. The challenge of moving towards a more resource efficient
society is multifaceted and must be tackled on several levels. The result from the life cycle assessment analysis
shows that depending on landfill alone are not sustainable in long term. Landfill must be cooperating with other
method of waste management such as recycling or landfill with energy recovery.
Keywords: Waste management, Strategy, Developing countries, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
1. INTRODUCTION
Wastes and pollutants from economic activities can directly cause damage to the environment if
released in an uncontrolled manner or treated improperly before disposal, or if treated wastes are
discharged into inappropriate environmental media. Sustainability is not the inherent property of any
one particular waste or secondary resource management option. It is vital that the waste management
industry is enabled to provide a spectrum of sustainable solutions within an integrated framework,
based upon the waste hierarchy and Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO). However, strict
adherence to the waste hierarchy is not necessarily BPEO in all circumstances as the external
environmental impacts of options further up the hierarchy may be greater than those options less
favoured by the structure of the hierarchy. The waste industry in Malaysia wants to move waste and
secondary resources management away from low cost waste disposal and more towards resource
management actively contributing to the Malaysia's resource efficiency and the broader aims of
sustainable development. Malaysian industry wants to build its future not on rising quantities of waste
but on managing diminishing amounts of waste by recovering secondary materials and energy and
returning these to the productive economy. Despite exceeding its proportions share of the total waste
arising in the Malaysia, it is the visibility of municipal waste, which claims the limelight and the
coveted place on the political hierarchy.
However, the Malaysia's historically poor performance in recovering value from the municipal
waste stream ensures that it remains one of the major challenges of more sustainable waste
management. It is essential that we reduce the amount of waste produced and its hazardousness.
Therefore, as a first step, waste production must be de-coupled from economic growth if we are to
move towards a more sustainable society. However, even the best efforts of government and waste
producers are unlikely ever to lead to a time we can claim to be producing Zero Waste. Therefore, in
order to manage waste which will continue to be produced more sustainable, our industry is
increasingly investing in new state-of-the-art infrastructure designed to return more of the materials
and energy contained in waste back into the productive economy.
107
Tome VIII (year 2010), Fascicule 2, (ISSN 1584 – 2665)

ANNALS OF FACULTY ENGINEERING HUNEDOARA – INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
OF ENGINEERING. Tome VIII (Year 2010). Fascicule 2 (ISSN 1584 – 2665)
2. WASTE COMPOSITION
The waste composition characteristic is reflected by it sources. In agenda 21, solid waste is
defined as all domestic refuse and non hazardous waste such as commercial and institutional wastes,
street sweepings and construction debris (UNEP, 2002). Peter, et.al (1996) define municipal solid
waste includes refuse from household, non-hazardous solid waste from industrial, commercial and
industrial establishment, market waste, yard waste and street sweepings. Most middle and low
income countries have a high percentage of organic matter in urban waste stream, ranging from 40 to
85 percent, even though the total of waste generation is 0.4 to 0.9kg per capita per day (Table 1).
Shekdar (2009) also found that most developed countries more recyclable and more organic waste is
produced in countries that have low GDP Malaysian solid waste contains very high organic waste and
consequently high moisture
content and bulk density of above
200kg/m3. A study conducted in
Kuala Lumpur has revealed that
the amount of organic wastes for
residential area ranging from 62
to 72 percent (CAP 2001).
Source: Diaz & Savage (2002)
Table 1: Components of Solid Waste (Solid waste composition (%) in
some South China Sea countries Country)
Cou Paper Glass Metals Plastics Organics Others
Brunei
Indonesia
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
26
2
25
10
28
19
6
1
3
2
4
6
11
4
6
3
5
4
13
3
8
9
12
10
41
87
56
70
44
55
3
3
2
6
7
6
3. OBJECTIVES
There are two main objectives in this paper, that is:
To quantify the amount of emission produce in relation to various activity in waste management
system.
To uncover the importance or benefit of several waste treatment methods that could be apply in a
small city such as Kota Kinabalu.
4. METHODOLOGY
This section provides an overview of the methodology used in this study. Three GHG are selected
that is CO2, CH4 and N2O as these are main gasses generated by waste management and also the
interest under the Kyoto protocol. The LCA is applied in this study and divided into three stages: the
definition of goal and scope, where the functional basis for comparison was chosen; identification of
the emissions to the atmosphere from selected boundaries; and the impact assessment, in which the
emissions generated are grouped and quantified into a limited number of impact categories. It should
be noted that ISO 14040 neither does describe the LCA-related tools, in detail, nor does it specify
which methodology should be used for each phase. It mainly provides a framework within which these
elements can be developed and used Generally, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool used to evaluate
the potential environmental impact of a product, process, or activity throughout its entire life cycle by
quantifying the use of resources (inputs such as energy, raw materials, water) and environmental
emissions (outputs to air, water and soil) associated with the system being evaluated (Powell et al.,
1996, Azapagic 1999, Bolaane et al., 2005).
5. OPTION FOR THE ANALYSIS
Currently, solid waste management is a major government concern and one of the
environmental problems faced by government of Malaysia. The amount of waste generated in the
country is continuing to increase but despite this problem, the country is still facing low standards of
solid waste management. In addition to this, many local authorities are desperate to find new sites to
dispose of their waste since 80% of the existing landfill in country will expire in the 2 years. Therefore,
this is important in giving alternative on how the waste management could improve and at the same to
contributing in reducing GHG. The total amount of waste generated is an important aspect of deciding
the type of waste treatment to be adopted. This study uses the figure for the waste generated in 2001 as
a base of comparison between options – functional unit. The
data comes from two main sources: KKCH and the private
sector. The functional unit refers to the basis on which
products or services are compared (McDougall et al., 2001).
The output for this analysis is calculated from the
transportation of material, material recycling, composting
and landfill. The environmental parameters chosen for this
Table 2: Impact category:
Global warming Potential (kg CO2)
Emissions Equivalence factor
CO2 1
N2O 296
CH4 23
Source: Mendes et al., (2003)
© copyright FACULTY of ENGINEERING - HUNEDOARA, ROMANIA
108

ANNALS OF FACULTY ENGINEERING HUNEDOARA – INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
OF ENGINEERING. Tome VIII (Year 2010). Fascicule 2 (ISSN 1584 – 2665)
study are CO2, CH4 and N2O. These emissions were grouped into global warming potential (GWP)
(Table 2).
The comparison of waste management performance in this study is based on three different
types of management options. The main differences between the options are the proportion of
materials collected for recycling; (10% in Option 1 and 20% in Option 2), composting in Option 1 and
energy recovery from landfill in Option 2. The methods of waste treatment considered in this study
consist of landfill of all fractions of waste (current option) and recycling of main recyclable materials
and composting of food waste and paper. The main differences between the options are the proportion
of materials collected for recycling; (10% in Option 1 and 20% in Option 2), composting in Option 1
and energy recovery from landfill in Option 2.
Sources of waste in KK
¾housing
¾commercial
¾ institutional
¾industrial
Door to door collection
system Transportation
Landfilling (I)
transfer area
Informal
(collectors scavengers) –
recycling purposes
Landfilling (II)
Reprocessing ?
Figure 1: Current Waste Management Practice in Kota Kinabalu City
6. RESULTS
6.1 RECYCLING
Many studies show that using secondary material in material production apparently reduces not
only the cost of operation but emission to the atmosphere. Similarly, this study proved that emissions
are reduced due to increasing recycling. The air emissions saved by recycling are directly linked to the
amount of energy saved by using secondary instead of primary materials, although this varies between
materials (Figure 2).
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
Paper
Cardboard
Plastic
Glass
Compostible
Metal
kWh saved/yea
r
current
option 1
option 2
Figure 2: Emission saved between materials
6.2 Landfill
In the study area, although a gas collection facility has been installed at the landfill site
information regarding the amount of gas generated and collected is not available. This study shows
that by diverting biodegradable waste from the landfill site a significant reduction of total GWP (49%)
from the site is anticipated (Figure 3). By implementing energy recovery, 1047 tonne of methane
emissions are reduced from option 1 to option 2. In relation to organic waste, composting is one
alternative to deal with it. Composting reduces the CH4 from landfill site by 49% and to the total GWP
a year. Natural waste decomposition during composting produces only a small amount of GHG
gaseous (N2O), showing that the contribution of composting to global warming potential is substantial.
© copyright FACULTY of ENGINEERING - HUNEDOARA, ROMANIA 109

ANNALS OF FACULTY ENGINEERING HUNEDOARA – INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
OF ENGINEERING. Tome VIII (Year 2010). Fascicule 2 (ISSN 1584 – 2665)
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
Current Option 1 Option 2
CH4
CO2
GWP
Figure 3: Emission between options
-30000
-20000
-10000
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
cur rent opt ion 1 opt ion 2
composting
landfill
recycling
Figure 4: Overall Performance between options
The differences between greenhouse gas emissions in the management options are mainly due to
the amount of compostable and paper waste disposed of in the landfill site and the implementation of
energy recovery (Figure 4). Even if wastes are managed properly, secondary wastes and pollutants
from their transportation, recycling, and treatment are an inevitable consequence of wаste generation.
These impacts can only be prevented by elimination of wastes at the source--pollution prevention.
7. CONCLUSION
The study highlights the benefits of LCA for exploring various environmental aspects of waste
management. The differences in environmental performance between the options are due to the choice
of waste treatment method. A better environment for future generations could be achieved; the
decision as to which of these options is most suitable for the area is subject to government preference
(environmental consideration) and the economic ability to execute the option.
REFERENCE
[1] CAP. Malaysian Country Report. Taiwan, Consumer Association of Penang, 2001.
[2] Diaz, L.F. and Savage, G.M. "Developing landfilf-guidelines for sites in developing countries." World
Management World 2(4), 2002.
[3] McDougall, F. "Life Cycle Inventory Tools: Supporting the Development of Sustainable Solid Waste
Management Systems." Corporate Environmental Strategy 8(2): 142-147, 2001.
[4] Mendes, M.R., Aramaki, T. and Hanaki, K. Assessment of the environmental impact of management
measures for the biodegradable fraction of municipal solid waste in Sa?o Paulo City. Waste Management.
23: 403-409, 2003.
[5] Powell, J.C., Craighill, A.L., Parfitt, J.P. and Turner, R.K. A lifecycle assessment and economic valuation of
recycling. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 39: 97-112, 1996.
[6] Rau, E.H. Trends in management and minimization of biomedical mixed wаstes at the National Institutes
of Health, Technology: Journal of Franklin Inst 334(A):397-419, 1997.
[7] Rau, E.H. Minimization and Management of Wаstes from Biomedical Research, Environmental Health
Perspectives Supplements, 10780475, Dec2000 Supplement 6, Vol. 108, 2000.
[8] Reinhardt, P.A. Leigh, L.K. Ashbrook, P.C. eds. Pollution Prevention and Wаste Minimization in
Laboratories, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1996.
[9] Shekdar, A.V. Sustainable solid waste management: An integrated approach for Asian Countries. Journal
of Waste Management. 29 (4),1438-1448.
[10] UNEP, 2002, http://www.unep.or.jp/publication
[11] Wagner, K.D. Defining and characterizing the wаste stream of healthcare facilities. In: Environmental
Management in Health Care Facilities (Wagner KD, ed), Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 9-17, 1998.
© copyright FACULTY of ENGINEERING - HUNEDOARA, ROMANIA
110