Where Does Your Rubbish Go? (Part 2) - Jeram Sanitary Landfill

After ending the somehow painfully long site visit at Shah Alam Transfer Station, we moved on to Jeram Sanitary Landfill in Kuala Selangor which is quite some distance away from UPM. Operated by Worldwide Holdings as well, Jeram Sanitary Landfill is 1 out of 12 sanitary landfills existed in Malaysia as stated below (information not complete):

• Bukit Tagar Sanitary Landfill operated by KUB-Berjaya Enviro Sdn Bhd in Selangor
• Air Hitam Sanitary Landfill by Worldwide Holdings (closed in 2006) in Selangor
• Jeram Sanitary Landfill by Worldwide Holdings in Selangor
• Tanjung 12 Sanitary Landfill by Worldwide Holdings in Selangor
• Seelong Sanitary Landfill by SWM Sdn Bhd in Johor
• Tanjung Langsat Sanitary Landfill by Pasir Gudang Municipal Council in Johor
• Pulau Burong Sanitary Landfill in Penang
• Kota Kinabalu Sanitary Landfill in Sabah
• Mambong Sanitary Landfill in Kuching, Sarawak
• Bintulu Sanitary Landfill in Sarawak
• Kemuyang Sanitary Landfill in Sibu, Sarawak
• Sibuti Sanitary Landfill in Miri, Sarawak

Part of the view at the sanitary landfill from afar. The rubbish dumped will be covered by a layer of black thick plastic sheet to avoid escaping odour and prevent rain penetration that produces large amount of leachate (rubbish water).

Methane gas electricity generator connected to the landfill with the black pipe. This generator can generate 1 MW of electricity using the methane gas produced from this landfill each day. Before the gas is channelled into the generator, the temperature of the gas has to be lowered from 50 - 60 °C to less than 30 °C to avoid damage to the machine.

Sanitary landfill

A landfill is a place where we use to bury rubbish and then cover it with soil so that the land can be reused for other purposes such as building construction or remaking as a park. In terms of aestheticism space-saving, landfill is a better option compared to an open dumping ground which will forever be a rubbish dump. Sanitary landfill is the upgraded version of landfill with strict management to minimise the environmental impact brought by rubbish we produced every day. Simplified steps in setting up a sanitary landfill:

1. Get a suitable location (away from residential area & above ground water table)
2. Dig a big hole of an inverted pyramid shape
3. Line the bottom and sides with a few layers of linings
4. Construct some pipes at the bottom to collect leachate
5. Start using the landfill, cover daily with lining sheet

Jeram Sanitary Landfill

Jeram Sanitary Landfill was set up at a piece of private land which was previously an oil palm plantation. Even though the soil type is marine clay which is suitable for agricultural purpose and is not suitable for landfill, the operator has no choice because there is no other better place for landfill. in Selangor. Due to high municipal solid waste production rate (solid waste sounds more professional than rubbish, hahaha), this sanitary landfill has to operate all year round. Each day, in average 2 500 tonnes of rubbish (2 500 x 1000 kg) will be dumped here. Try to imagine where does this rubbish have to go if the landfill is having a holiday for just one day.

All the garbage trucks will go to the tipping station of the sanitary landfill upon arrival to be weight as they have to pay for each tonne of rubbish that they send there. Yes, the whole garbage truck will be weight, how cool is that?? Then the content of the trucks will be emptied into the 'cell'. The whole landfill will be divided into cells which are enclosed with layers of linings each to ensure that the waste is secured from escaping into the environment. With every 3 metres thick of rubbish being compacted and spread out, it will be covered. Through calculation, Jeram Sanitary Landfill will reach its maximum capacity and will have to be closed down. A layer of top soil will be placed above the closed landfill and landscaping will be done. Shrubs will be planted to beautify the site for other uses. Even though it is closed down, the generation of methane gas due to anaerobic microorganisms reaction will not stop, thus electricity will continue being generated. Management will still have to be done to ensure no leakage of pollutants from the sanitary landfill.

Leachate treatment system

This is the thing that mesmerised me the most at the sanitary landfill site. Although we have seen the leachate treatment system at the Shah Alam Transfer Station, this one is much much better than the previous one! The leachate will be biologically treated first in three pools respectively by stages, and then being chemically treated with coagulant and flocculant and finally being filtered physically.

The first stage of leachate treatment with microorganisms. Pumps are being used to aerate the leachate to provide oxygen for the microorganisms while nutrients are being provided from the leachate. The brown colour of the leachate really smelt badly! Ugh...

The leachate will be channelled from pool to pool with different types of treatment. This one looks much much better than the previous one.

Sand filter with activated carbon filter which are the last equipment used for the water purifying system. I mentioned it as water purifying system instead of leachate treatment system as what they do is really really amazing that you would not believe the rubbish water that is so dirty can be cleaned.

The sludge separated from the leachate. Remember the brown water that we saw in the picture? This sludge is basically odourless and looks like chocolate (think twice before you eat chocolate).

Final product of the treatment system!!! See the beaker??? It looks as pristine as our tap water! The treated water will be channelled into the Sembilang River. There is no worries regarding pollution because the water is so so clean that you might think it is drinkable (don't play play with environmental students, we might prank you, hehe)

Sanitary landfills begin to mushroom in Malaysia, which is a good sign of improved solid waste management system of our country. I heard that a good sanitary landfill should be odourless. For Jeram Sanitary Landfill, I still can smell a slight hint of rubbish but it is much much better than the Shah Alam Transfer Station. We didn't go up to the tipping station nor got close to the landfill, so I can't be sure the condition there. Hope that the improvement can be continued for the sake of the environment. And of course, us, the rubbish producer, should be improved in terms of mindset on rubbish production as well!