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KUALA LUMPUR: Remember how bread, rice, eggs, mineral water, and other essentials flew off grocery store and supermarket shelves when the government announced the Movement Control Order (MCO) in March?
This panic buying scenario was repeated recently when the conditional MCO (CMCO) was reimposed in certain states to halt the surge in Covid-19 cases.
When a large quantity of a certain food remains uneaten and its shelf life has expired, it inevitably ends up in the garbage can. This brings to mind photos of unopened bread packages lying in a trash heap that went viral on social media during MCO and invoked the ire of netizens.
Food waste is a perpetual problem in Malaysia and according to SWCorp Malaysia (Public Cleaning and Solid Waste Management Corporation), the household sector accounts for 44.5% of the 16,667.5 tonnes of food waste that generated daily in Malaysia.
Approximately 24% or 4,005 tons of food waste is classified as still edible, with enough to provide 2,970,000 people a day three meals.
The MCO period, however, had a positive side as there was a marked decrease in the amount of food waste that ended up in landfills.
According to SWCorp Malaysia’s Federal Territories Director, Mohd Zahir Shari, during the month of March, including the period before the MCO was enforced on March 18, the daily food waste generated in Kuala Lumpur averaged 2.1 tons and in April, it dropped to 1.7 tons per day. , reflecting a reduction of 0.3 tonnes in daily food waste.
The decrease was attributed to the majority of restaurants offering takeout and home delivery and their shorter hours of operation, as well as the cancellation of all wedding functions and other events and meetings.
The fact that hotels and restaurants were not allowed to offer buffets during the MCO also resulted in a decrease, as buffets are known to be among the largest contributors to food waste.
“During that period, most of the people stayed home and cooked or opted for packaged food from outside, but they consumed all the food since they were confined at home,” Mohd Zahir said.
However, he said CalledWhen the MCO entered the conditional and recovery phases, the food waste figures in Kuala Lumpur began to rise again to an average of 2.2 to 2.3 tons per day in June and July, when restrictions were relaxed movement and most of the economic sectors were reopened.
And, according to SW Corp’s waste composition study, the average amount of food waste generated during the OLS period and the month of Ramadan showed a reduction of 40.9% compared to last year.
“We hope that people will continue to take the initiative to reduce the amount of solid waste that is disposed of on a daily basis through self-regulation and attitude change,” added Mohd Zahir.
Noting that food waste can be categorized as ‘avoidable’ and ‘unavoidable’, he said the former includes uneaten food, while the latter includes fruit peels, bones and other kitchen scraps that cannot be consumed.
Unavoidable waste can be composted that can be used as a garden fertilizer.
Mohd Zahir said SWCorp is collaborating with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and waste management concessionaire Alam Flora Sdn Bhd to compost food waste using its anaerobic digestion plant located at its innovative recycling facility in Precinct 5 , Putrajaya.
“The anaerobic digester can hold up to 50 kilograms of food waste and we are encouraging residents of the surrounding areas to make use of this facility,” he said.
Meanwhile, to reduce food waste, Yayasan Food Bank Malaysia CEO Ab Wahab Long said he is working together with several other NGOs and supermarkets to collect the unsold surplus food and channel it to the needy residing in the flats and wellness homes of the People’s Housing Project (PPR). as well as the homeless community.
They can collect more than 1,000 kilograms of food a day in hotels, supermarkets, wholesale markets and food factories located in the Klang Valley, he said.
“Wholesale markets, for example, tend to get rid of a lot of unsold raw vegetables, fruits and foods that are still in good condition. We go to those places to ‘save’ food from the landfill, ”he said, adding that during the MCO period they also collected dry food and other edible items that were nearing their expiration date to distribute to college students who were stranded in your campus.
Their noble efforts are also good for the environment, as less solid waste in landfills means less greenhouse gas emissions.
Ab Wahab said his organization, which was established in January 2019, has proposed to the government that a National Food Banking Month be introduced to raise more awareness among people about the evils of food waste.
He said that to date, Yayasan Food Bank Malaysia has distributed surplus unsold food to 622,726 households and 77,251 students from 195 universities. – Called
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