Every year, the world produces more than two billion tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW), according to estimates by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). If packed into standard shipping containers and placed end-to-end, this waste would wrap around the Earth’s equator 25 times, further than travelling to the moon and back. 

All this waste comes at a massive price: the global direct cost of waste management was an estimated USD 252 billion in 2020, or as much as USD261 billion if the hidden costs of pollution, poor health, and climate change are factored in. UNEP warns this figure could double by 2050 unless urgent action is taken to improve waste management. 

Disposing of humanity’s abundance of waste responsibly while striving for environmental sustainability poses a growing challenge for most developing countries. Enter Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plants – a transformative solution that not only manages non-recyclable solid waste but also contributes to environmentally conscious economic progress. 

Turning rubbish into valuable energy resources

Waste generated in the Asia Pacific region alone is projected to increase to a staggering 1.1 trillion tonnes in 2030. Managing this surge is a major challenge especially for cities in developing countries. In many low-income nations, up to 93% of solid waste is improperly managed – either dumped, buried, or thrown into waterways.  

While societies aim to reduce, reuse and recycle, a significant share of waste cannot be processed this way. This is the case of non-recyclable MSW, or everyday waste generated from households, offices, and small businesses that is not separated for recycling, composting or other specialised treatment.  

MSW is generated wherever there are human settlements, and influenced by every individual through our daily practices, purchasing decisions and lifestyle choices. Keeping communities safe and pleasant to live in while preserving environmental liveability means finding a way to dispose of all this trash in an eco-friendly and responsible manner. 

This is where cutting-edge WtE technologies can help by converting the energy content of different types of non-recyclable waste into various forms of valuable energy, including heat and electricity. This power can then be distributed through local and national grid systems to end-users, while specific types of biofuels can also be extracted from organic waste.  

Compared to landfilling, WtE solutions can reduce waste volume by up to 90%, lowering pollution, emissions, and long-term environmental harm. To this end, the government of Malaysia has identified WtE as a vital and sustainable solution to the dual challenges of waste management and energy production in the nation.  

The potential for harnessing WtE in Malaysia  

Malaysia generates an estimated 39,000 tonnes of solid waste every day, which is the equivalent of filling almost 3,000 garbage trucks daily. 89% of the collected MSW end up in landfills, many operating as open dumpsites. Meanwhile, the closure of a fully utilised landfill can cost about RM20 million, adding financial pressure to an already strained system.  

What’s more, the nation’s annual solid waste could surpass 17 million tonnes by 2035 due to rapid urbanisation, population growth, and expanding economic activities. In response, the government has been making efforts to improve solid waste management, including the expansion of WtE facilities as a more sustainable and cost-effective alternative to landfilling. 

Led by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) as the implementing agency, Malaysia plans to commission 18 WtE facilities across every state by 2040. These facilities are expected to reduce up to 85% of solid waste currently being sent to landfills and cut over 259,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. 

In addition to diverting non-recyclable waste from landfills and dumpsites, the WtE facilities could generate up to 600MW of renewable energy (RE) – creating spillover benefits by supplying electricity and heat to neighbouring residential, commercial, and industrial users. This would ultimately contribute to the nation’s target of achieving 70% RE capacity by 2050. 

The nation’s largest landfill gas plant at Bukit Tagar Enviro Park (BTEP), Selangor, serves as a practical example. Currently, it can harness energy from methane gas in 5,000 tons of MSW daily from neighbouring cities like KL and Selayang, contributing approximately 339 million kWh of electricity to the national grid.

As Malaysia scales its adoption of WtE solutions, the research and innovation arm of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNBR) has also been operating an anaerobic digestion facility to convert food waste into biogas and related by-products. The pilot system in Kajang can process up to 500kg of food waste daily, producing around 50-60 normal cubic metres of biogas a day.  

The facility also features a torrefaction system, which heats biomass at high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment without fully burning it. This process removes moisture and breaks down part of the biomass, turning it into a drier, more energy-dense charcoal-like material known as biochar. This material is currently used for research including studies on its suitability for solid fuel enhancement, soil improvement, and carbon material applications.

Taken together, these initiatives reinforce the scale-up and commercial potential of WtE solutions for reducing landfill dependency, minimising pollution, and converting waste into higher-value energy products. While still at the exploratory stages, WtE pathways promise to become a critical pillar of Malaysia’s circular economy aligned with sustainability priorities.  

Collaboration to responsibly unlock WtE’s full potential 

Through WtE facilities, MSW can be turned into a precious resource for the urban sustainable energy mix of tomorrow – and Asia-Pacific is already the fastest growing market for WtE. Nonetheless, an increasingly demanding set of environmental, economic, and technical factors continue to pose challenges to the development of these technologies.  

While today’s WtE technologies are relatively well-developed, the inconsistency of the composition of MSW, the complexity of the design of the treatment facilities, and the air-polluting emissions generated from waste incineration still represent open issues. Which is why WtE development requires a combination of efforts from several different perspectives.  

Public-private partnerships are critical for advancing WtE deployments in ways that benefit everyone.

In this regard, public-private partnerships are critical for advancing WtE deployments in ways that benefit everyone. TNB for instance is working with SWCorp and Alam Flora Environmental Solution (AFES) to explore opportunities related to food and organic waste management, technology validation, and potential integration of WtE solutions. 

The government is also exploring the latest technologies that can accommodate high water content and low combustibility of certain waste, which previously were unsuited for direct incineration. Better energy recovery systems can also convert MSW more efficiently into RE, while simultaneously absorbing air pollutants for producing cement and other materials. 

As an example, KDEB Waste Management Sdn Bhd, a leading smart waste company entrusted by the Selangor State Government, is exploring the latest mass burn incineration technologies that integrate advanced emission control systems, energy recovery, and heat recovery to accommodate different levels of moisture in the waste. .  

While there is no perfect solution to a problem as huge as waste management, WtE plants can provide us electricity and valuable by-products in the form of biomass compost or construction materials. The alternative, on the other hand, would be trash that has nowhere to go, because landfills have all filled up to the maximum.  

Charting a course towards a zero-waste economy 

Managing waste properly is essential for building sustainable and livable cities and neighbourhoods in the future, but it remains a challenge for many developing countries. Poorly managed waste serves as a breeding ground for disease, contributes to global climate change through methane generation, and can even promote urban violence. 

Through cutting edge technology and stringent environmental controls, WtE facilities convert what was once considered waste into precious energy resources. Malaysia’s embrace of WtE emerges as an ecological and forward-thinking approach, paving the way for the nation to become a zero-waste, net-zero leader in the region.