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Engineering students of INTI College Sarawak were not spared the ordeal of having to endure foul smells for the sake of acquiring knowledge on environmental management.

The stench of garbage emitted from Mambong Waste Management Plant was overpowering but the students braved it in the quest to find out how such a plant is managed, and waste produced by city folks treated before being returned to the environment.

The plant sprawling over 112 hectares and owned by Trienekens Sarawak Sdn. Bhd had the distinction of being one of the most advanced integrated waste treatment parks in Southeast Asia. It is the only waste management park in the region to combine municipal wastes and hazardous wastes landfills with an incinerator for hazardous wastes. The plant materialised through the joint venture effort of Malaysian and German engineers.

The 60 Diploma in Civil and Mechanical Engineering students and staff from the College’s School of Engineering and Built Environment were brought on an eye-opening guided tour of the premises by Trienekens’ Operations Manager Encik Mohamad Siphon.

They were assured that the foul smell, although unpleasant on the nose, was not hazardous to health.

The group was initially brought to the landfill dumps for domestic waste, of which Kuching produces from 500 to 600 metric tonnes daily. Eight cells had been allocated for domestic waste, and expected to last for the next 25 years.

As Kuching receives plenty of rainfall, measures had been taken in the planning stage to ensure that leachate water would not effect the environment. The experts chose Trisoplast as the main sealing material for the separately sited landfills for municipal and hazardous wastes. This barrier material ensures that the groundwater is totally protected from contamination by leachate water. The Trisoplast barrier alone is 10-centimetres thick, reinforced by layers of plastic and geotextile. This is topped up by a 50-cm thick layer of gravel to allow for drainage.

Students were later shown the plant for treating leachate water from domestic waste. The water is collected through an extensive system of pipes embedded in the numerous protective and filtering layers. The pipes are partly perforated so water can flow through the holes for transportation and pumping into the collectors where the liquid is treated to the required standard prior to discharge into the environment.

The students were informed that the plant also had to deal with the issue of decomposing waste materials that produced noxious gases. A system of pipes has been installed to remove the gases.

During the tour of the landfill for hazardous wastes, the students were told that the engineers had laid a 20-cm thick Trisoplast barrier layer that is twice the thickness of that used in the landfill for municipal wastes. In order to further improve on safety precautions, the Trisoplast barrier is covered with a 2.5-mm layer of high-density polyethylene - a dense plastic. When it rains, the entire landfill for hazardous waste is protected by a plastic covering that ensures that rainwater does not come in contact with the hazardous wastes.

Educational trips like this one are regularly arranged for the engineering programmes at INTI College Sarawak, which is aimed at exposing students to the practical side of engineering.

The College’s School of Engineering and Built Environment offers programmes that include Diploma in Civil Engineering, Diploma in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Diploma in Mechanical Engineering and Diploma in Quantity Surveying. Also available is the UK Degree Transfer Programme in Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or Electronic and Electrical Engineering for diploma holders wanting to reduce the time spent on obtaining their degrees in the United Kingdom.

INTI diploma holders are accepted into universities in the UK, Australia or New Zealand.

To be eligible to join the diploma programmes, students need to have three credits in SPM or its equivalent with passes in Physics, Additional Maths and English.

These courses are open for enrolment. For further information, call our friendly Education Counsellors at 082-570888.