PUSAT PENGAJIAN SAINS SEKITARAN DAN SUMBER ALAM

FAKULTI SAINS DAN TEKNOLOGI

STAE 3062 MANAGEMENT OF SOLID WASTE AND

SCHEDULE WASTE
(SEM 2 2019/2020)

PREPARED BY:

MOHAMMAD ZARIFF HILMIE BIN SHUKOR (A166660)

YEN ZI YING (A166106)
KALPANNA D/O CHELVAM (A166142)
PRIYA DARSHINI D/O GANESAN (A166099)
NUR WAHEEDA BINTI ABDUL KADIR (A166822)

TITLE:
DEVELOPMENT OF AN EFFICIENT SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
FOR UNIVERSITI KEBANGSAAN MALAYSIA TOWARDS
SUSTAINABLE UNIVERSITY

PREPARED FOR:

DR NURUL `AIN BINTI AB JALIL

Question: Students are required to provide a report in a group based on the title given.
Among the components that should be in the report are:

a) Present UKM Waste Management and Composition (Estimation component and

percentage of paper, plastics, glass)
b) Identify solid waste facilities available in at UKM. How are waste being collected
presently?
c) What facilities should be put to implement integrated solid waste management? Identify
area set up for the propose facilities. Identify suitability of waste reduction, composting,
landfilling and thermal treatment --- Discuss further
d) How to improve recycling activities or 3R?
e) How to improve the present waste management

A. UKM Waste Management and Composition

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) was officially established on 18 May 1970.

The main campus of UKM is located at Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor and consist of 13
faculties, 12 centres, 13 institutes, and a research bureau. On 18 December 2008, UKM has
signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Alam Flora Sdn Bhd (AFSB) to establish
and to apply an Integrated Solid Waste Management at UKM. The MoA open ways to the
university in achieving its mission on Zero-Waste campus and to be a role model for other
universities in Malaysia. Currently UKM has an estimates population of 30,000 people,
including lectures, employees, and students. About 8 tons of solid waste are generated per
day. AFSB and UKM have implemented a three-phase plan (Alam Flora, 2009) to create a
“Zero Waste Campus”.

Phase 1 (7 months, June 2009 – December 2009)

 Collection: Waste Collection to be continued as per current system

 Disposal: All organic waste to be disposed at RDF Incineration
 Activities: Education programs throughout campus, site preparation for Integrated
SWM Research Center (ISWMRC)

Phase 2 (6 months, January 2010 – June 2010)

 Collection: Full waste separation at source, two bin waste system

  Disposal: All mix-organic waste goes to ISWMRC (for further waste separation and
treatment), residual will be disposed at RDF, bulky waste residual is to be disposed at
Dengkil Landfill
 Activities: Site preparation for the mini landfill at UKM campus

Phase 3 (Starting July 2010 – continuous)

 Disposal: no out-going waste from the UKM campus

 Parallel to the three-phase plan several research activities have started. One of these
activities is the municipal waste composition study.

Month Total Waste Disposal in Landfill Average Daily Waste Disposal

(ton/month) (ton/day)
July-09 176.63 5.70
August-09 156.64 5.05
September-09 128.09 4.27
October-09 169.85 5.48
November-09 145.14 4.84
December-09 112.22 3.62
January-10 105.69 3.41
February-10 145.60 5.20
March-10 151.28 4.88
April-10 150.5 5,02
May-10 118.7 3.83
June-10 90.5 3.02
July-10 175.2 5.65

Table 1: Waste Generation in UKM, 2009-2010

The above table shows the monthly waste generation in whole UKM campus, Bangi
from 1 July 2009 until 31 July 2010 (Tiew et al. 2011). The highest daily waste generation in
UKM is 5.70 ton/day and lowest is 3.02 ton/day. The waste generated in UKM was affected
by academic session, semester break season and the fasting month for Muslims. Hence, June
2010 had the lowest waste collection because of the semester break while the peak season is
in July 2009 and 2010, which is the new intake for an academic session.
 Figure 1: Average Waste Composition at UKM Campus.
The average amount of sample is 108 kg

The Municipal Solid Waste Composition study highlighted the composition and
characteristics of the solid waste produced at UKM campus (Tiew et al. 2010). This study
conducted from 27 July to 22 August 2009. The main components of the waste are organics
(43%), plastics (36%) and paper (17%), which is more than 96% of the total solid waste.
Figure 1 shows the plastic and organic have high content followed by paper.

Figure 2: Average Waste Composition at UKM Figure 3: Average Waste Composition at UKM
Campus (Focus on plastic) Campus (Focus on Organics)
B) (i) Solid Waste Facilities in UKM

UKM strives towards a completely sustainable campus by 2020 by outlining many activities
that not only benefit the campus and students but also help achieve universal sustainability.

I. Recycling Centre

The university has set up a Recycling Centre that incorporates the sustainable elements. It
is the first zero-energy recycling centre in the country. It boasts for great efficiency in the use
of energy and water, and the surrounding landscape is nourished with the compost made from
wastes. This centre was designed by Senior Researcher Dr Azimin Mohd Tazilan from the
Engineering Faculty’s Architecture Department, the centre uses photovoltaic solar panel that
can generate up to 200 watts of electricity. This is an initiative to promote recycling waste
among students and staff members.

II. 3R – Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

The Faculty of Health Sciences (FSK) has become the first faculty at the National
University of Malaysia (UKM) to officially implement a solid waste separation programme
of the universal 3Rs, namely ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ for sustainable development.
III. 3-Bin Recycling System

Instead of only setting up normal waste bins, UKM has also taken the step to set up 3-bin
recycling waste bins in every faculties. This is an easy and effective measure in segregating
and recycling waste as an early step in the whole solid waste management system.

IV. Paper Recycling Boxes

Paper recycling boxes are meant to recycle all sorts of paper. Moreover, papers are
mostly highly consumed in educational institutes like UKM.These boxes are provided to all
offices throughout the campus.
(B)(ii) How Are Waste Being Collected Presently?

The key considerations as regard to collection are frequency of collection, point of

collection, pickup density, programming and equipment (Diaz et al, 1993). The frequency of
waste collection is influenced by factors such as:

● Volume and rate of generation

● Fly production
● Generation rate effect
● Cost

Collection System
The collection system in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), is carried out by
the medium size Lorries, equipped with a simple system of compaction, in which the waste
are slightly compacted. This Lorries receive their wastes from the main collection points
which are situated nearby the faculties, college residential areas and other department and
office premises. Different kinds of bins such as normal waste bin and 3-bin recycling bin are
used in UKM for solid waste collection.

The Lorries are scheduled to collect the waste from the UKM premises once in a day
and that was around 12 at noon. Whereas, the cleaners’ crews in the collect the waste from all
over UKM twice a day, and pile them in the main collection point. The solid waste which
was collected after 12 will remain there till next day noon to be collected by the Lorries.
 C) I) Facilities That Should Be Put To Implement Integrated Solid Waste
Management and Where Will It Be Placed.

First facilities that should be placed to implement integrated solid waste is Zero waste
store. It can be set up at every dormitory as a part of the establishment of zero waste program
in university to encourage package-free purchase in household products for example,
detergent, shampoo, floor cleaner or even food such as cereal, dry gains and bread. Students
bring their own reusable bag and container to carry the products they want to purchase, or
buy reusable container at the store. A zero-waste approach can reduce the consumption to
only what is needed, since they are allowed to buy in a small amount that is sufficient for
every of them. It can also help in reducing the unnecessary packaging due to cut down of
individual plastics packaging for every product.

Secondly, provide 4-bin recycling system in residential college areas. College

residential areas are the place that students spent most of their time and dispose most of the
solid waste products. Therefore placing 4-bin recycling trash cans at strategic areas such as
colleges will encourage students to dispose waste according to specific categories – trash,
plastic, cans and paper. This initiative will be an effective step to segregate and recycle waste.

Currently UKM have only one recycle center situated next to Panggung Seni UKM. It
is not sufficient to cater all the needs when integrated solid waste management is
implemented. More recycle center should be built and placed through out UKM. For
example, at residential college and faculties. By doing this, recycle system at UKM will
always be at optimum level when everyone plays their role to consistently recycle the waste.
 C) II) Identify Suitability of Waste Reduction, Composting, Landfilling and
Thermal treatment

Comprehensive Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) programs are one of the
greatest challenges to achieving institutional sustainability. Effective ISWM requires a
complete understanding of the composition of a waste stream as well as the activities that
determine its generation in the first place. All waste should be examined by generation source
as the characteristic and composition of solid waste collected differ according to its source. It
is commonly known to public that UKM have 13 faculties, 16 research institutes, 12
residential colleges and have population of 30,000 people that includes lectures, staffs and
students. It is vital that UKM have a functional ISWM to cater about 8 tonnes of solid waste
generated daily.

Nevertheless, not all range of solid waste treatment are suitable to be carried out in
UKM due to some factors. Firstly, composting. It is a method that uses biological process in
which the organic portion of refuse is allowed to decompose under carefully controlled
conditions. This waste treatment produces harmful greenhouse gas emissions. It happens due
to all wastes break down anaerobically (Adamcová et al. 2016). Microbes metabolize the
organic waste material and reduce its volume by as much as 50 %. As the solid waste
decompose over time, it emitted methane gas that have properties of pungent smell and is
highly flammable. This does not make UKM safe environment for inhabitants. The stabilized
product is called compost. It resembles potting soil in texture and odour and may be used as a
soil conditioner or mulch (Wei et al. 2017).

Secondly, implementing landfill as a waste treatment at UKM. One of the limitations

to set up landfill at UKM in both campus at Bangi and Kuala Lumpur are its sizes. UKM
campus Bangi and Kuala Lumpur has a very limited size of 1096 hectares and 20 hectares
respectively. Landfilling is method of wastes disposal involving pitching refuses into a large
area of depression, abandoned, excavated land, or borrowed pits (Adamcová et al. 2016).
Existence of landfill may jeopardize the purity of groundwater at UKM as there will be
leachate generated from the landfill. This happen as water seeps through any material,
various chemicals in the material may dissolve in water and get carried along in a process
called leaching. The water with various pollutants in it is called leachate (Kjeldsen et al.
2002). As water seep through solid wastes, a harmful leachate is generated that consists of
residues of decomposing organic matter combined with iron, mercury, lead, zinc, and other
metals from rusting cans, discarded batteries, and appliances, plus paints, pesticides, cleaning
fluids and other chemicals (Gworek et al. 2016). Other than that, not all waste will be
decompose at landfill as commonly used plastics in solid wastes are resistant to natural
decomposition due to its molecular structure (Kamaruddin et al. 2017). Microbes unable to
digest the polymer of compound from petroleum based.

Thirdly, it is not suitable to build thermal treatment in UKM compound despite have
the capabilities to reduce mass of waste collected to 96%. Thermal treatment uses
incineration plant as a method of waste treatment which burn organic materials found in
waste. Product of this treatment are ash, heat and flue gas that are converted from the solid
waste (Huang et al. 2019). Some of the reasons that it is not suitable in UKM are product
generated from this process can pollute the environment. Incinerators produce smoke during
the burning process. The smoke produced includes acid gases, carcinogen dioxin,
particulates, heavy metals, and nitrogen oxide (Gworek et al. 2016). These gases
are poisonous to the environment and public as well. There is also a slight chance that the
incinerator plant suffers from malfunction that can threat the wellbeing everyone nearby.

Waste treatment that are suitable to be implemented at UKM is Waste Reduction. It is

a process of using less energy and material so that the waste generation can be minimize and
preserve natural resources. It includes reusing products, for example glass containers and
plastic or even buying a product that can be used in long period of time (Trihadiningrum et al.
2017). By doing this, UKM can minimized the pollution level as there is higher efficiency in
production and usage of less energy consumption product. Indirectly, it can also reduce
reliability towards natural resources (Powell et al. 2016). Apart from that, implementation of
waste reduction will create new habits to all communities in UKM. For instance, habit of
donating materials that not useful to us to someone else as it might benefit them in anyway.
Also, habit of always reuse product and use it efficiently. With that being said, it can increase
awareness among people at UKM to incorporate green,
D) How to Improve Recycling Activities or 3R?
E) How to Improve the Present Waste Management?

I. Waste Management based on ‘Waste Hierarchy’

The waste management system in the campus should be reformed based on the
European Union’s ‘Waste Hierarchy’. The approach emphasises the priority order when
shaping waste policy and managing waste at the operational level where it maximises the
prevention of waste to lower the waste generation before (preparing for) reuse, recycling,
recovery, and the least preferred option, disposal (Popescu et al., 2016 ; European
Commission, 2008). To achieve that, the authorities should focus on reducing the waste
generation as the first step in waste management, follows by recycling and reusing to increase
the efficiency of waste management.

II. Proper Garbage Container and Dumpsters

Most of the garbage bins or dumpsters in the campus are often left uncover or
unsecure. This can lead to sanitary problems caused by flies, rodents, cockroaches and
monkeys. The authorities have to make sure the garbage bins are secure, covered and at its
sufficient capacity. The school administration should communicate with the waste
management company for the strategic placement and amounts of dumpsters to increase the
route and operational efficiency, so it can be emptied before the dumpsters are overflowed.
III. Implement a Comprehensive Organic Waste Diversion Program

For a campus like UKM that is surrounded by trees, often generate a substantial
amount of organic waste in the form of leaves, wood chips and tree branches. To deal with
the by-products of garden maintenance, the authorities should implement a program together
with students to turn the outdoor waste products into new resources. For example,
Sacramento State University in California received an award in year 2016 for their ‘Closed
Loop Comprehensive Organic Waste Diversion Program’ which is a comprehensive and cost-
saving organic waste diversion program that turns leaves and lawn clippings into a fuel (a
bio-compressed natural gas). This fuel was then used to power the campus’ complimentary
shuttle service, thereby launching the university on its journey to divest from fossil fuels
(Sacramento State University, 2017 ; Adel, 2017). Therefore, a similar approach can be
implemented by students with the aid from the campus administration.

IV. Food Waste Recovery Program

Every year, tonnes of uneaten food are being thrown in every university. Student
organization can partner with local NGOs to start a program where they can encourage on-
campus students or cafeterias to donate their extra food or groceries that is in good condition
so they can repackage and serve it to the low-income communities. However, for the food
that is not able to be reheated or repackage, composting it is the best option.
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