Better eating habits could help solid waste management
Published on: Friday, May 29, 2015
Kuala Lumpur: After observing the eating habits of Malaysians, 22-year-old Rikiya Sakurai's jaw literally dropped. The Japanese exchange student, who is in the country for a year for Universiti Putra Malaysia's (UPM) Student Exchange Mobility Programme, said his observations showed that locals liked to indulge in large quantities of food, even if they end up not finishing their food. This finding only created more questions in Rikiya's mind about the Malaysian eating habit.
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"I noticed that Malaysians have a lot of leftovers. In Japan, people do not leave food on their plate. If they do, it would only be a small portion and means they were not satisfied with what they ate. "But Malaysians eat too much and this will be a big problem in the future...an environmental problem," said the Niigata University student. Unable to contain his curiosity, the biochemistry student from the university's Agriculture Faculty decided to dwell further into this scenario. In fact, Rikiya is not the only foreign student with these questions. According to Associate Prof Dr Latifah Abd Manaf, a lecturer at UPM's Faculty of Environmental Studies, most outsiders have labelled Malaysians as gluttons.
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"I teach a lot of foreigners and most of them label us a society that likes to eat. "When we go for a buffet we want to sample everything, even though our stomach has its limit. In the end the food is not finished and discarded," she said.
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This contributes to the waste that Malaysians generate each day, with studies showing that food makes up a high percentage of solid waste compared with other waste matter. Fourty-five per cent or 15,000 tonnes of food is chucked into landfills, quite a disturbing figure. Even worse, three per cent or 900 tonnes of the food wasted were untouched and were mostly expired food, indicating how extravagant Malaysians were with food. The amount of food wasted is enough to feed three meals to 600,000 people according to the Malaysia Dietary Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health's Nutrition Division. So why is food wastage such an important issue?As emphasised by Rikiya, the environment is also at risk if nothing is done about the wastage problem. The domino effect stemming from food waste was among the reasons why it was chosen as a component focused in the Solid Waste Management Comprehensive Action Plan 2015-2020 by the Solid Waste And Public Cleansing Management Corporation (SWCorp). Despite this many remain indifferent to food wastage and the pollution that reduces quality of life, especially since the majority in Malaysia do not practice recycling and composting. This trend not only contributes to the reduced life expectancy of landfills, but also brings attention to other areas of concern. "The issue is whether our solid waste is sent to sanitary landfills or open dumps. We are less worried about the effects of sanitary landfills. "In open dumps the leachate generated by decomposed garbage causes air, land and water pollution which can be detrimental to health," said Latifah. Sanitary landfills, on the other hand, is lined with plastic or clay to prevent noxious substances from seeping into surrounding areas. However, only eight sanitary landfills are available in Malaysia while the remaining 165 are open dumps. At the same time, landfills have also been identified as the main contributor to greenhouse gases which can cause global warming and climate changes. Based on Malaysia's Second National Communication Report on Climate Change, the second biggest contributor of methane gas emission was food waste, making up 47 per cent. However, the country is still very much dependent on landfills and 90 per cent of the garbage created including food and recyclables is dumped there.An estimated 29.3 per cent of solid waste is reusable but have not been reused, which explains why the target of 33,000 tonnes of solid waste by 2020 was achieved eight years early. Meanwhile, it is expected that the country will produce 49,000 tonnes of garbage daily by 2020! "It's difficult to obtain new landfills to replace those already full because no one wants one near their home. "This is why food waste is among our concern. If we reduce food waste then the amount of garbage that goes into the landfills is less," said SWCorp chief executive officer Datuk Ab Rahim Md Noor. The authorities now faces challenges in sustainable solid waste management following increased population density, urbanisation and industrialisation.This is in addition to the high cost of solid waste management from collecting, processing, disposing, preparing sanitary landfills and covering landfills that are not environmentally friendly. Last year alone the government spent about RM1.4 billion to ensure cleanliness. This does not include providing facilities such as creating landfills. "There are 43 ongoing landfill projects including 21 upgrades, four new sanitary landfills, 17 projects to cover landfills and a leachate treatment plant costing some RM1 billion. It is done in phases," he said. Now the government strives for only 60 per cent of waste generated to be sent to landfills by 2020. The remaining waste will be treated in two different ways, of which 22 per cent will be recycled while the remaining will be treated.It is hoped that the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007, which would enforce separation of waste at the source from Sept 1, 2015, would help realise this. "This act not only covers recycling, but also makes solid waste management more sustainable, environmentally friendly and orderly," he said. Solid waste management is one of the areas targeted to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG). Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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