Landfills full of food
> ‘Ramadan period shows increase in such waste’
PETALING JAYA: Food fests held in expensive hotels and breaking fast events throughout the month have contributed to increasing food wastage which has subsequently raised the environmental issue of overcapacity in landfills.
Such a problem has proven to become a challenge for Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp), forcing them to work more just to ensure landfills are not overflowing with waste.
SWCorp deputy chief executive officer (technical) Dr Mohd Pauze Mohamad Taha said solid waste, including food waste, had been showing an increasing trend during the Ramadan period.
He said such statistics are expected as studies conducted by the agency showed an increase of solid waste generation by 15% to 20% during festive seasons including Ramadan.
“Such exorbitant amounts have caused SWCorp to come out with better steps and initiatives to avoid food waste from being disposed in landfills,” he told theSun.
He said programmes centred on feasts, such as those held in hotels, were among the reasons for the increase in food waste statistics.
He said based on an SWCorp study, food waste produced by Malaysians amounted to 45% of the total solid waste generated nationwide.
What is more concerning is the fact that 20% of the generated food waste is regarded as ‘edible’ waste, he added.
“Feast programmes could lead to food wastage if they are not organised with better care and responsibility by all involved parties including organisers and guests,” he said.
The trend of food wastage during Ramadan was also agreed by Food Aid Foundation, a non-governmental organisation concerned with collecting surplus food for impoverished Malaysians.
Its director of operations, Hayati Ismail, said the food bank would always see an increase of around 25% to 30% of edible food waste during the fasting month.
Raising the concern, she added Malaysians would be living beside a landfill in the future if the issue of food waste was not handled actively today.
“About 3,000 tonnes of edible food is thrown into our landfills daily. Not only are we wasting good food, we are polluting our environment with our bad habits,” she said.
“As for those patronising hotels, our society should learn the art of buffet dining where we should take food moderately and not pile our plates with food,” she added.