WasteMET 2014: Sustainable Waste Management
Remember when you took your garbage outside? What do you think happens to all the garbage collected everyday by the refuse collector? While the idea of handling all the slimes and dirt with all the maggots have a big icky issue, the industry of waste management is a very big business that could withstand the financial crisis.
That what is all about with the WasteMET 2014 Expo that had been organized at Marina Bay Sands Singapore from 2nd to 4th June 2014.
When I first got to know this event it was two years ago in 2012. It was the first edition of this exhibition and it was also being held in Marina Bay Sands. It was obvious that during the time, I learned a lot about waste management technologies and there were some regret I didn't managed to catch some of the talks given during last time.
Same as the previous event, I'm not going alone this year. I'm going with my junior colleague as an exposure for her to the waste management technologies in the market so far. As an engineer, some of the technologies featured in the exhibition does excite me. It was a good seven days after I had the nose operation. I was still feeling a little bit groggy, so it'll be good to have her as company.
The drive to Singapore doesn't took a lot of time. Sure going through the immigration and the customs is a hassle as always and don't forget the traffic, but other than that our way to the Marina Bay Sand was a breeze. Going in Singapore using foreign number plate car will require you to have an Autopass Card. You can also use this card to pay the parking in Singapore. Talk about parking - the parking in the Marina Bay Sands sure was packed during that day. After turned around for about 20 minutes, we both just gave up and parked it in a free area that will not obstruct other cars.
Admission in the exhibition was through registration only. They have the registration booth outside the hall. And you suppose to be a trade professional to enter the event. Non-trade visitors and minors are a major no-no.
The thing that I'm looking forward was the business forum session. This was the thing that I had missed last time. We had came on the first day of the exhibition - 2nd June 2014. Today it'll be some talks that will be held from 1.30pm until 3.30pm. But it seems we also came on the wrong day because tomorrow's forum will be something that have something to do with Malaysia's own waste management future.
It'll be three hours before the forum so we hit out at the exhibition booths first.
My first impression of the exhibition booths was unfortunately not quite good that I hope so. Compared to the last edition, I think there were more booths. And the booths had better demonstration of their technologies. Or is it only me getting jaded?
There were some booths that I did stopped by. One of them was a mobile compactor booth. Compared to Malaysia, Singapore have a serious problem of land shortage for properties. As such they have to build apartments as a countermeasure.
The mobile compactors were placed at these apartments to handle the refuse at the areas. All the refuse will compacted locally and a prime mover will lift up the mobile compactor to the dump site. This practice ensures the apartment living area to be clean and healthy. We are still a lot of years behind the best practice of refuse handling compared to our counterparts.
Another refuse collection technology that featured was the suction system. How it works is that some built in tunnels will suck all the refuse that being dumped in the dumping chute. Instead of enduring the refuse's smell and sight of them, all the refuse will directly being transported to the dumping site or the compactor.
Unfortunately this advance refuse practice can only be applied to buildings in its development process only and can't be retrofit. In Malaysia there are some modern complex that already incorporate this innovation into its blueprint. If I'm not mistaken KLIA is one of them.
One of thing that I love to do during these exhibition is to talk to the exhibitionist. It is one way for me to change ideas and also to build up confidence talking to strangers. It was at one of the booth that featured a mini road sweeper that to spend some time to understand the product.
What we Malaysian miss is the world of mini machineries. Because of value/machine, we will rarely see a mini machinery in Malaysia while in developed countries it is boundless of them because of the efficiency. As is the case with the road sweeper. While the normal size road sweeper is suitable for the big roads, the mini road sweeper will be perfect for the cleaning in the city areas where it is difficult to navigate the normal size road sweeper.
After that we hit the restaurants since our stomach already calling and it'll be another one hour before the talk will begin.
Some words of precaution though. There will be some issues as a Muslim Malaysian trying to get his lunch in Marina Bay Sands. One: to get halal foods since this is Singapore most of the restaurant will not be halal. t'll not be as easy in Malaysia as the thing that we will have to look of is the halal certified logo. Secondly: as a Malaysian, the Singaporean dollar currently is on the all time high since the year 2000 compared to MYR. Unless you don't really care about the fulus, this doesn't really concerns you. Thirdly: it'll be hard for you to get any seats. Even in the food court.
We found the food court as the most popular lunch area for all when we got there. There were only two booths that were selling halal food. One was selling nasi beriyani and another was selling Indonesian foods. I chose the beriyani and my colleague chose the latter. The price was quite reasonable and we didn't have to break the bank.
So the first and second obstacle already passed. We didn't have any seat. Basically there were no seat available. It was not the situation that I was expecting since I was getting groggier by the second after walking through the exhibition while my colleague was also the same because she was wearing high heels (serves her right?).
So what do we do? We stole the seats. Literally stole the seats from an unlucky Japanese lady who basically was waiting for the friends at the table. But she was too timid and she kept glancing to her phone a bit and there. After a while, she moved to another table when her colleague finally arrived. While my colleague felt a bit sorry for the lady, I didn't feel any remorse since we already asked her several times without getting any response plus my head felt really dizzy plus my feet hurts. Interesting experience though. Lesson learned here.
Marina Bay Sands as per other other modern shopping complex in Singapore is huge. It housed some premium brands in the complex. They even have a Ferrari shop in here. Plus they have the casino which bring a lot of visitors each day. By the time we got back at the exhibition hall, I think I already processed all the lunch that I had eaten.
As expected, the forum start sharp at 1.30pm. There will be altogether 4 speakers in this session. Each session will take about half an hour.
The first speaker was Mr Darrell Farley from a waste management consultation company. Unfortunately, the speaker didn't managed to engaged with the audience. The talk was dour and it didn't help either that Mr Farley's voice was too low. His presentation didn't highlight anything particularly special. He listed out some of the consultation job that his company already took and also some business opportunity in the future.
The second speaker was quite animated. He came from India to talk about the recycling e-waste that had been conducted in India. In fact he was the most avid audience in this session. Most of the questions posed my the audience came from him.
As global technology blooms, the e-waste generated will raise concurrently with the technology. The management of the e-waste need to have a fine look as the adoption smartphones, LCD TVs, computers becoming higher. In India, the trend of the e-waste is increasing and is is expected to reach 180k tonnes in 2025.
Not being a developed country yet, understandably that India will face problem in their effort to manage the e-waste. Mr Ajoy here is to share and changing experiences about managing the e-waste. Wonder when Malaysia will start to do the same?
The third speaker was also from a consultant waste management company. Mr Boer emphasized on the sustainability of the resources on earth. The manufacturing process need to change its perspective from Take-Make-Dispose system to the recycle system to emulate the natural eco system. At the current consumption rate, it is estimated that the easily accessible resources will run out in the next 100 years.
Finally it was the time for the last speaker in the session - Dr Chindarat Taylor. She also came from a consultant company from UK. What she brought into the forum was the company's experience in their lastest project in Thailand.
What strike me most about her was her passion for the project that she had conducted in Thailand, her native land. Her presentation and her English maybe be somewhat short, but the confidence overcomes all the shortcomings.
After the forum ended it was already 3.00pm. Before heading back to Johor, we head to the praying room inside the Singapore International Water Week exhibition hall.
What I had found out was that the Water Week exhibition is larger compared to the WasteMET. Back in 2012, if I'm not mistaken both exhibition is almost the same. I'll take a note to spend more time in both exhibition in 2016. The next event is scheduled to be from 10-14 July 2016.
Mental note to self: when heading back to Johor - always use second link if during weekdays in the evening. The traffic jam in Tambak Johor was unbearable. It was not how I want to go through after a long day at Marina Bay Sands, with my dizzy head and loose feet.
InsyaAllah.
That what is all about with the WasteMET 2014 Expo that had been organized at Marina Bay Sands Singapore from 2nd to 4th June 2014.
When I first got to know this event it was two years ago in 2012. It was the first edition of this exhibition and it was also being held in Marina Bay Sands. It was obvious that during the time, I learned a lot about waste management technologies and there were some regret I didn't managed to catch some of the talks given during last time.
Same as the previous event, I'm not going alone this year. I'm going with my junior colleague as an exposure for her to the waste management technologies in the market so far. As an engineer, some of the technologies featured in the exhibition does excite me. It was a good seven days after I had the nose operation. I was still feeling a little bit groggy, so it'll be good to have her as company.
The drive to Singapore doesn't took a lot of time. Sure going through the immigration and the customs is a hassle as always and don't forget the traffic, but other than that our way to the Marina Bay Sand was a breeze. Going in Singapore using foreign number plate car will require you to have an Autopass Card. You can also use this card to pay the parking in Singapore. Talk about parking - the parking in the Marina Bay Sands sure was packed during that day. After turned around for about 20 minutes, we both just gave up and parked it in a free area that will not obstruct other cars.
 |
| WasteMET at Level 1 |
Admission in the exhibition was through registration only. They have the registration booth outside the hall. And you suppose to be a trade professional to enter the event. Non-trade visitors and minors are a major no-no.
The thing that I'm looking forward was the business forum session. This was the thing that I had missed last time. We had came on the first day of the exhibition - 2nd June 2014. Today it'll be some talks that will be held from 1.30pm until 3.30pm. But it seems we also came on the wrong day because tomorrow's forum will be something that have something to do with Malaysia's own waste management future.
 |
| The itinerary outside the hall. |
 |
| Got to be back at the hall when this start. |
 |
| Tomorrow's forum - something about Malaysia. |
It'll be three hours before the forum so we hit out at the exhibition booths first.
My first impression of the exhibition booths was unfortunately not quite good that I hope so. Compared to the last edition, I think there were more booths. And the booths had better demonstration of their technologies. Or is it only me getting jaded?
 |
| The mobile compactor |
There were some booths that I did stopped by. One of them was a mobile compactor booth. Compared to Malaysia, Singapore have a serious problem of land shortage for properties. As such they have to build apartments as a countermeasure.
The mobile compactors were placed at these apartments to handle the refuse at the areas. All the refuse will compacted locally and a prime mover will lift up the mobile compactor to the dump site. This practice ensures the apartment living area to be clean and healthy. We are still a lot of years behind the best practice of refuse handling compared to our counterparts.
 |
| Another refuse collection technology. |
Another refuse collection technology that featured was the suction system. How it works is that some built in tunnels will suck all the refuse that being dumped in the dumping chute. Instead of enduring the refuse's smell and sight of them, all the refuse will directly being transported to the dumping site or the compactor.
Unfortunately this advance refuse practice can only be applied to buildings in its development process only and can't be retrofit. In Malaysia there are some modern complex that already incorporate this innovation into its blueprint. If I'm not mistaken KLIA is one of them.
 |
| The demonstration of the suction system. |
One of thing that I love to do during these exhibition is to talk to the exhibitionist. It is one way for me to change ideas and also to build up confidence talking to strangers. It was at one of the booth that featured a mini road sweeper that to spend some time to understand the product.
What we Malaysian miss is the world of mini machineries. Because of value/machine, we will rarely see a mini machinery in Malaysia while in developed countries it is boundless of them because of the efficiency. As is the case with the road sweeper. While the normal size road sweeper is suitable for the big roads, the mini road sweeper will be perfect for the cleaning in the city areas where it is difficult to navigate the normal size road sweeper.
 |
| The mini road sweeper. |
After that we hit the restaurants since our stomach already calling and it'll be another one hour before the talk will begin.
Some words of precaution though. There will be some issues as a Muslim Malaysian trying to get his lunch in Marina Bay Sands. One: to get halal foods since this is Singapore most of the restaurant will not be halal. t'll not be as easy in Malaysia as the thing that we will have to look of is the halal certified logo. Secondly: as a Malaysian, the Singaporean dollar currently is on the all time high since the year 2000 compared to MYR. Unless you don't really care about the fulus, this doesn't really concerns you. Thirdly: it'll be hard for you to get any seats. Even in the food court.
 |
| The food court is beside a ice skating rink. |
We found the food court as the most popular lunch area for all when we got there. There were only two booths that were selling halal food. One was selling nasi beriyani and another was selling Indonesian foods. I chose the beriyani and my colleague chose the latter. The price was quite reasonable and we didn't have to break the bank.
So the first and second obstacle already passed. We didn't have any seat. Basically there were no seat available. It was not the situation that I was expecting since I was getting groggier by the second after walking through the exhibition while my colleague was also the same because she was wearing high heels (serves her right?).
 |
| Some still waiting for the seats... |
So what do we do? We stole the seats. Literally stole the seats from an unlucky Japanese lady who basically was waiting for the friends at the table. But she was too timid and she kept glancing to her phone a bit and there. After a while, she moved to another table when her colleague finally arrived. While my colleague felt a bit sorry for the lady, I didn't feel any remorse since we already asked her several times without getting any response plus my head felt really dizzy plus my feet hurts. Interesting experience though. Lesson learned here.
Marina Bay Sands as per other other modern shopping complex in Singapore is huge. It housed some premium brands in the complex. They even have a Ferrari shop in here. Plus they have the casino which bring a lot of visitors each day. By the time we got back at the exhibition hall, I think I already processed all the lunch that I had eaten.
As expected, the forum start sharp at 1.30pm. There will be altogether 4 speakers in this session. Each session will take about half an hour.
The first speaker was Mr Darrell Farley from a waste management consultation company. Unfortunately, the speaker didn't managed to engaged with the audience. The talk was dour and it didn't help either that Mr Farley's voice was too low. His presentation didn't highlight anything particularly special. He listed out some of the consultation job that his company already took and also some business opportunity in the future.
The second speaker was quite animated. He came from India to talk about the recycling e-waste that had been conducted in India. In fact he was the most avid audience in this session. Most of the questions posed my the audience came from him.
As global technology blooms, the e-waste generated will raise concurrently with the technology. The management of the e-waste need to have a fine look as the adoption smartphones, LCD TVs, computers becoming higher. In India, the trend of the e-waste is increasing and is is expected to reach 180k tonnes in 2025.
Not being a developed country yet, understandably that India will face problem in their effort to manage the e-waste. Mr Ajoy here is to share and changing experiences about managing the e-waste. Wonder when Malaysia will start to do the same?
The third speaker was also from a consultant waste management company. Mr Boer emphasized on the sustainability of the resources on earth. The manufacturing process need to change its perspective from Take-Make-Dispose system to the recycle system to emulate the natural eco system. At the current consumption rate, it is estimated that the easily accessible resources will run out in the next 100 years.
 |
| The eco clock is ticking |
Finally it was the time for the last speaker in the session - Dr Chindarat Taylor. She also came from a consultant company from UK. What she brought into the forum was the company's experience in their lastest project in Thailand.
What strike me most about her was her passion for the project that she had conducted in Thailand, her native land. Her presentation and her English maybe be somewhat short, but the confidence overcomes all the shortcomings.
After the forum ended it was already 3.00pm. Before heading back to Johor, we head to the praying room inside the Singapore International Water Week exhibition hall.
 |
| Praying room facility for Muslims. |
What I had found out was that the Water Week exhibition is larger compared to the WasteMET. Back in 2012, if I'm not mistaken both exhibition is almost the same. I'll take a note to spend more time in both exhibition in 2016. The next event is scheduled to be from 10-14 July 2016.
Mental note to self: when heading back to Johor - always use second link if during weekdays in the evening. The traffic jam in Tambak Johor was unbearable. It was not how I want to go through after a long day at Marina Bay Sands, with my dizzy head and loose feet.
InsyaAllah.
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