ISKANDAR PUTERI: Johor plans to build a SMART (solid waste modular advanced recovery and treatment) WTE plant, which converts solid waste to energy in an effort to address the issue of solid waste in the state in the future.
State Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Ayub Jamil said the state government had basically agreed that the project will be managed by Permodalan Darul Ta’zim (PDT) in collaboration with a private company.
He said the SMART WTE project, which will be developed in Seelong, Johor Bahru at the cost of RM600 million will use a public-private partnership model.
“The state government has agreed to embark on waste management through the waste-to-energy solution which (in turn) can be a new source of income for the state.
“Our subsidiary, PDT, is expected to have a stake in this investment, for which we are going to model it on the country’s first Smart WTE plant in Ladang Tanah Merah (Negeri Sembilan), which is run by Cypark Resources Bhd,“ he said at the Johor Legislative Assembly sitting here, today.
Ayub said Cypark Resources is one of the main suppliers of green energy in the country and is also listed on Bursa Malaysia.
He said the plant could produce 20 to 25 megawatts of energy per hour, which requires 1,000 tonnes of waste, and has the capacity to produce 480 to 600 megawatts per day.
The landfill in Seelong, which covers the areas of Johor Bahru, Iskandar Puteri, Kulai, and Pasir Gudang, for example, can collect about 1,800 tonnes of waste a day, he added.
He was answering oral questions from Ee Chin Li (PH-Tangkak) and Tan Hong Pin (PH-Skudai) on the state government’s efforts in reducing solid waste and measures in dealing with landfills that had been closed.
Besides, Ayub said the state government plans to develop solar farms or public recreation areas on top of the landfills that had been closed.
He said Johor has nine landfills that are still operating while three others had been closed, namely in Simpang Renggam, Bakri and Tangkak.
“The federal government has agreed to pay RM1 for a tonne of waste, which we will use as capital to develop these landfill sites,“ he said.
Besides, Ayub said Cypark’s expertise in developing solar farms could help make this effort a success.
Johor will also launch the “Smart Waste Collection” by making Pengerang the state’s first smart city, which uses technology from Finland, early next month.
Ayub said this technology, which manages commercial, industrial and institutional waste, will be a new source of revenue for local authorities in the future. — Bernama
