source separation of food waste - turning waste into...

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Creating Awareness and Public Participation on recycling among

Hawkers in Subang Jaya

SOURCE SEPARATION OF FOOD WASTE - TURNING

WASTE INTO COMPOST

Majlis PerbadananSubang Jaya

CARRIED OUT BY:Majlis Daerah Pekan, Pahang

FUNDED BY:Solid Waste Management Component (SWMC)Community Initiative and Educational FundDANIDA

CONSULTANT (RESPONSIBLE ENTITY):Perunding Uras d.S

AUTHOR:Eco-Ideal Consilting Sdn Bhd

PUBLISHED BY:Department of National Solid Waste ManagementMinistry of Housing and Local GovernmentLevel 2 & 4, Block B North, Pusat Bandar Damansara50644 Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaTel: +603 2092 4488Fax: +603 2093 5982www.kpkt.gov.my

PRINTED BY:Meridian Solutions

1st EditionDecember 20091,000 Copies

Abbreviations and Acronyms i

Message

Foreword ii

Background 1

3The Project Design and Implementation

Benefits, Challenges and Key Lessons Learnt 17

Sustaining the Project 19

Table of Contents

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PPSM_SJ(FA).ai 1 1/19/10 3:10 PMPPSM_SJ(FA).ai 1 1/19/10 3:10 PM

DANIDA Danish International Development Assistance

JPSPN Jabatan Pengurusan Sisa Pepejal Negara (Department of National Solid Waste Management)

MHLG Ministry of Housing and Local Government

MPSJ Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya (Subang Jaya Municipal Council)

NGOs Non - Governmental Organisations

NSP National Strategic Plan

MARDI Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute

Abbreviations and Acronyms

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Dato’ Adnan bin Hj. Md IkshanYang DipertuaSUBANG JAYA MUNICIPAL COUNCIL

Foreword

Assalammualaikum and greetings,

The food waste segregation programme for public food courts in Subang Jaya is one of the initiatives taken by Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) to increase public participation in sustainable solid waste management. Food waste is the largest component of our solid waste. Achieving high recycling rates for our waste therefore, cannot be done without involving food waste. Making high quality recycled products from food waste, however, require segregation at source to avoid contamination of the materials. It is therefore, impossible to achieve high recycling rates without the active participation of the waste generators which practically means all of us.

Due to the flourishing eating-out culture in Malaysia, the council decided to establish a pilot programme for collection of food waste from selected food courts, i.e. USJ 7 Food Court, SS 13 Food Court, USJ SS 15 Food Court, PJS 11 Food Court and JUSCO Bandar Sunway Food Court. The hawkers were briefed and trained to segregate food wastes from the overall bulk of waste generated from their premises. Subsequently, the wastes were collected and brought to the Food Waste Composting Centre which the Council has established at USJ 1. After 6 months, 21 tonnes of food waste were collected and processed to compost before being used for landscaping at MPSJ areas.

This programme is very successful. The support and commitment from the hawkers have been very encouraging. If we all work together, many more can be achieved. Based on the experience and achievements from this project, MPSJ is committed to continue and expand our effort in this field.

It is our hope that other Local Authorities, associations, businesses, Non - Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and individuals may be able to use the experience learnt from this programme to enhance segregation of waste at source for recycling.

I would like to extend my deepest thanks and appreciation to all parties involved in this project, especially the Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA) who has assisted the Council in funding the programme, the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (MHLG), the Public Food Court Hawker Associations, JUSCO Bandar Sunway, the Resident Associations involved, the committed staff of the Council and those who were involved directly or indirectly in making this project a success.

Thank You.

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DATO’ NADZRI BIN YAHAYA, Ph.DDirector General Department of National Solid Waste ManagementMinistry of Housing and Local Government

Message

Public participation and awareness are instrumental for improving the way we deal with our waste today. Waste reduction and recycling can only be successful if the authorities, the private sector and the public work together in unity for the better of the society. In 2005, the Government of Denmark through the Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA) agreed with the Government of Malaysia to establish a fund to support Local Authorities, who were committed to carry out such initiatives to increase public participa-tion and awareness in solid waste management on the local level.

The fund was subsequently established in 2006, and the local authorities were requested to submit proposals for funding. The response from the Local Authorities was overwhelming and very encouraging. It was not easy for the Ministry and DANIDA to select the 10 initiatives, among the large number of interesting and promising ideas, which could be financed within the budgetary limits. The strong response is a clear demonstration of the commitment and enthusiasm towards saving resources and protecting the environment that exists in many Local Authorities and communities. The initiatives selected include a very broad range of activities involving many parts of the society, including residents, school children, hotels, restaurants, hawkers, tourists to mention a few. And the ranges of subjects are similarly broad including waste reduction, recycling, home composting, bulky waste management and cleanliness. The fund has now come to an end, and it is time to sum up the experience and the lessons learned. Through a series of booklets, each initiative is presented and the experience and lessons learned are documented. It is my hope that the booklets will act as inspiration for others. The booklets are made not only to facilitate replication of the initiatives, but is also hoped that the booklets will inspire residents, communities and businesses to come up with different and new ideas to further increase the involvement of the society and the hope for a brighter future for all of us. The present booklet presents one of the successful community initiatives – Creating Awareness and Participation in Recycling among Hawkers in Subang Jaya.

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Background

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Municipal solid waste in Malaysia contains a high amount of organic matters, particularly food waste. The National Strategic Plan (NSP) for Solid Waste Management estimates that about 45% of the municipal waste are food waste, followed by other components such as papers, plastics, metals, etc. This figure has been reported1 to reach even higher levels at nearly 70% when the waste arrives at the disposal site due to the separation of other recyclables from the waste and the lack of food waste recovery in Malaysia. Most food waste are disposed of at the disposal site.

Food waste can be converted into useful materials such as soil conditioner or fertiliser if it is source-sorted and hereby, avoiding contamination from other waste materials. However, except some food waste collected from eateries by farmers for animal feed, source separation of food waste for recycling is not commonly practised in Malaysia due to various constraints. These constraints include low awareness among the waste generators and low demand of the products produced from the food waste such as the composts.

MPSJ has recognised the importance of promoting food waste recycling in order to increase the overall recycling rate, save resources and divert solid waste from entering the disposal sites where it constitutes a financial burden and gives rise to environmental impacts.

Due to the “eating-out” habits of Malaysians, significant amount of food waste are being generated from hawker centres. As an initiative to kick off the food waste recycling activities in Subang Jaya, MPSJ decided to select hawker centres for a pilot project. Before the project, only a few hawkers segregated the food for collection by farmers, while most of the food waste were mixed and disposed of at Jeram landfill which is located approximately 45km away from Subang Jaya.

A total of 4 hawker centres with approximately 100 hawker stalls, estimated to generate about 500kg of food waste daily, were selected for participation in the project.

The project is a part of the Community Initiatives Programme initiated by the Department of National Solid Waste Management (JPSPN) and DANIDA. The programme supports initiatives on community participation in solid waste management in 10 Local Authorities around Peninsular Malaysia.

This booklet aims to share the experiences gained from this Community Initiative project in MPSJ, including cost-benefit assessment of the selected setup of the food waste composting activities.

1. Mohd Nazeri Salleh and Mohd Nasir Hassan (2005). Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Solid Waste Disposed at Taman Beringin Landfill, Kuala Lumpur. Faculty of Environmental Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

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COMPOSTING AND ITS BENEFITSMPSJ chose composting as the method of recycling of the food waste. Composting is a process where the organic materials are transformed into compost via a process of controlled biological decomposition by microorganisms under the presence of oxygen. Alternatively, fermentation could have been selected. In such case, no oxygen is involved and biogas is produced in the addition to the compost.

Like any other recycling methods, composting of food wastes, garden wastes and other organic wastes can help to reduce the amount of solid wastes for disposal, thereby, reducing the disposal costs, prolonging the lifespan of the disposal sites and minimising the environmental impacts. Food waste is the main contributor to greenhouse gas (methane) emission at landfills and is the main contributor to leachate formation due to the high humidity of the waste. It further contaminates other recyclables and complicates their separation from the waste stream. Compost is also a valuable product that can be used as fertiliser or soil conditioner in farming, gardening, parks and landscaping activities.

Many composting techniques are available for converting the organic waste into compost. The advanced in-vessel, high speed composting method, using effective microorganisms under controlled high temperature was chosen for this Community Initiative to ensure effective composting within the possible shortest period.

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TS BENEFITSmethod of recycling of the food waste. the organic materials are transformed

controlled biological decomposition by presence of oxygen. Alternatively, elected. In such case, no oxygen is n the addition to the compost.

s, composting of food wastes, garden can help to reduce the amount of solid cing the disposal costs, prolonging the minimising the environmental impacts. butor to greenhouse gas (methane) in contributor to leachate formation due t further contaminates other recyclables

ste stream. Compost is also rom the wasrtiliser or soil conditioner in used as ferctivities. dscaping ac

for converting the organic e available el, high speed composting ced in-vess

s under controlled high oorganismsInitiative to ensure effective Community d.ortest period

• Composting is an accelerated process of natural decomposition of organic matters into compost by microorganisms, mainly bacteria and fungi under the presence of oxygen.

• Compost is an organic material that can be used as soil conditioner (medium to grow plants) and fertilizer.

• Compost contains nitrogen, phosphate, sulphur, potash and smaller but useful amounts of other minerals; all of which help to improve plant growth and yield.

• Compost contains beneficial microorganisms that can suppress plant diseases and pests.

• Compost can be used to remediate contaminated sites.

KEY FACTS ABOUT

COMPOSTING

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The Project Design and Implementation

In February 2008, MPSJ has proposed the project to MHLG for approval under the DANIDA financed Solid Waste Community Initiative Fund. The project was approved by the Fund in April 2008. The one-year project was commenced in May 2008 and completed in April 2009. The total budget for the initiative was RM 375,000 of which RM180,000 was derived from the Community Initiatives Fund and RM195,000 from in-kind contributions from the MPSJ.

The objectives of the project were: • To create awareness among the hawker centres on proper solid waste management • To encourage participation of the hawkers in solid waste management by segregating the waste • To establish an effective collection of segregated food waste from the individual hawker stalls to a centralized composting facility • To turn the organic food waste into useful compost • To gain experience in setting up such system and disseminate experience gained to others

4 hawker centres in Subang Jaya with approximately 100 hawkers were selected: • Hawker Centre in USJ 7 • Hawker Centre in PJS 11 • Hawker Centre in SS 13 • Hawker Centre in SS 15

The selection was based on the expectation that 5kg food waste could be collected in average from each hawker daily. The 4 centres should therefore, be able to supply a total of 500kg of food waste every day.

The project was carried out in 3 separate stages:

1. Planning Stage – to decide which hawker centres to be involved; which composting technique to be applied; which capacity the composting facility should have; how to create awareness; how much budget is required; how to set up the taskforce and to conduct pre-visits to the selected hawker centres to determine location of bins, etc.

2. Implementation – to implement the planned activities; set-up the composting facility; carry out awareness creation; undertake trial run and actual operation of the collection system, conduct data collection, etc.

3. Monitoring/Evaluation – to monitor, conduct post project surveys, analyse and assess the findings.

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Prepare and submit ProjectProposal to MHLG

Evaluate and Review Results forReplication

Separate and Collect Food Wasteat Hawker Centres

Transfer Food Waste to FoodWaste Composting Facility

Approved Project Proposed byMHLG and Secured Funding from

DANIDA- Community Initiatives

Establish a Taskforce Commitee

PrepareAwareness-

Creation

Produce Compost or Soil

Conduct Survey

Set Up of FoodWaste Composting

Facility

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION FLOW

The process plan of the entire design of the community Initiative Project is as shown below:

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PLANNINGESTABLISHING A TASKFORCELed by MPSJ, a taskforce was established on 27 May 2008 comprising of representatives from the participating hawker centres, resident associations and the waste contractors. The taskforce served as a platform for planning, coordination and decision making for the project. Taskforce meetings were held periodically throughout the project duration to discuss any issues of concern and to decide on corrective action required to ensure effective implementation of the project.

CREATING AWARENESSHawker centres were targeted as waste generators for this initiative. As awareness is crucial for motivating the hawkers to segregate their food waste as part of their daily routines, it was vital to work closely with the hawkers from the beginning of the project.

To achieve this, MPSJ conducted briefing sessions about the project at all respective hawker centres. The briefing included explanation on the project objectives, the benefits of the project and the expectations on the participation of the hawkers to segregate their food waste.

In addition to the talks conducted at the respective hawker centres, another awareness talk was conducted at MPSJ office. The event was attended by a total of 33 hawkers from the 4 selected hawker-centres. The hawkers reacted enthusiasticly towards the project and agreed to participate. A briefing was also given at the composting facility to show the actual composting process to the participating hawkers.

Educational pamphlets were prepared by MPSJ and distributed during the talk. The pamphlets served as an educational tool and as a reference to the hawkers about the project implementation.

MPSJ • Coordinates and monitors the overall implementation of the project• Chairs the taskforce committee and ensures that all inputs from the stakeholders are included in the decision-making• Establishes recording of segregated food waste throughout the duration of the project• Operates the composting centre• Prepares and submits progress reports to DANIDA• Documents the implementation throughout the project for dissemination

HAWKERS• Participate actively in the project by segregating the food wastes at source, following the instructions given

RESIDENT ASSOCIATIONS • Informs the nearby residents about the food waste composting initiative • Assists MPSJ in creating awareness and disseminaing the awareness materials (brochures) about the project

WASTE CONTRACTOR• Collects segregated food wastes from the participating hawker centers and send to the centralised composting facility

STAKEHOLDERS & THEIR ROLES

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• Waste Bin at Individual Hawker Stall

• Communal Waste Bin

SETTING UP OF FOOD WASTE SEPARATION AND COMPOSTING FACILITIESThe selection of hawker centres for the project was proposed by MPSJ and endorsed by the taskforce. The selection was made based on logistic considerations, especially the distance between the centres to ease the collection and distance to the composting site.

Each hawker centre was visited to find the right place for the 30-litre food waste bins at each individual hawker stall. The visit was also aimed to find the location to place the 1,000-litre communal bin where the food waste from individual bins shall be transferred by the hawkers.

Individual waste bins and communal bins were subsequently procured and placed at the respective hawker centres. A collection schedule for the food waste at each hawker centre was also determined. The food waste was transferred from the individual stalls to the communal bin by the individual hawkers. Transfer of the food waste from the communal bin to the composting facility was done by the appointed waste contractor on the next morning before the operation of the hawker centre started.

The taskforce decided to locate the composting facility at an existing waste storage area in USJ 1/33 at Subang Jaya. Advanced in-vessel high-speed composting technology using effective microorganism at high temperature was opted for the project instead of conventional composting. The in-vessel high-speed composting system was deemed appropriate for this project because it requires very little space and is able to produce compost within very short duration (24-48 hours).

Besides this, the system has better control of bad odour and requires only minimal labour. All these are factors that suit the requirements in urban areas such as MPSJ. The composting facility is a small 40-metre square roofed structure with electricity and water supply, a requirement for the composting machines. The facility was equipped with 2 units of in-vessel composting machines, each with a capacity of 250kg/day and has additional space for the preparation of food waste before feeding into the machines.

• In Vessel Composting machine

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IMPLEMENTATIONTRIAL RUNA one-month trial run of the system was conducted on 1 November 2008. The main objective of the trial run was to identify any part of the system that would require corrective measures to ensure effective operation of the system.

On 7 November 2008, another round of awareness talks was conducted at each hawker centre. The talks were, however, attended by only 15 hawkers.

Posters were put up at the hawker centres to provide further guidance to the hawkers on the step–by-step process of segregation, collection and composting.

During the trial period, some challenges were realised:

• One complaint was received from a shop, neighbouring the composting facility about bad odour from the facility.

• Oil and grease were discharged from the composting machines to the drains. • Some of the food waste received at the composting facility were still mixed with non-food waste materials such as straws, spoons and plastic bags.

• Smaller amounts of food waste was collected from the selected hawker centres than expected. It was recorded that the waste received during the trial run was only about 50kg/day as compared to the expected 500kg/day. This was mainly due to the overestimation of the amount of food waste as well as low participation from the hawkers.

• Cleaning and washing of the composting facility after each batch of food waste was loaded into the machines was introduced to ensure cleanliness and to avoid bad odour.

• A simple process of manual drainage of excess water from the food waste buckets before loading it to the composting machine was introduced at the composting facility to improve the structure of the waste and avoid discharge of oil and grease from the machines.

As a response to the findings from the trial period, the taskforce subsequently took the following actions to overcome the challenges:

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• A simple sorting process was introduced at the composting facility for the workers to pick up any non-food waste from the received food waste before loading it to the composting machine. This process is important to prevent damage to the composting machines and to ensure the quality of the compost.

• Oil and grease traps with screen were established at the composting facility to avoid the food residues and the oil and grease generated during the sorting of the food waste from entering the drains. This prevented the bad odour caused by food residues and oil and grease trapped in the drain from reoccurring.

• Follow-up awareness talks to the hawker centres were conducted to increase participation.

• Simple sorting of food waste before loading into the machines

• Cleaning after Operation

• Grease Trap Installed at the Site

• Composting facility at USJ1

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OPERATION OF THE FOOD WASTE SYSTEMFull scale operation of the food waste system was commenced after one month of trial run and after all the corrective measures had been implemented. The composting machines were able to treat a maximum of 500kg food wastes each day.

The segregation of food waste at the hawker centres took place all day from the morning when the hawkers started to prepare the food. More food waste were generated throughout the day, mainly from the food residues left by the customers.

The hawkers transferred the food waste to the communal bin whenever the individual bins were full. Since the operation of most of the participating hawker centres continued through the evening, the collection of food waste from the communal bin was only done early in the next morning, before operation of the centre started.

The waste contractor emptied the communal bin from all participating hawker centres in one trip to save transportation cost and delivered the collected food waste to the composting facility at around 10.00am. Once the food waste arrived at the facility, the workers would drain excess water from the food waste and carry out simple sorting of the waste to pick up any non-food items before the waste were loaded into the composting machines.

Sawdust was added to the composting process as bulking agent in order to improve the structure and the composting process. Approximately 1kg of saw dust was added to every 5kg of raw food waste.

The machines processed the waste automatically under high temperature (60-70 degree Celsius) with the help of effective microorganisms added to the machine and transformed it into useful compost after 24-48 hours. As the compost quality after 48 hours was found to be better in terms of moisture content and maturity of operation, decision was made to process the waste for 24 hours only on Monday-Friday and process the food waste arriving on Saturday for additional 24 hours over Sunday when the hawker centres were not in operation.

• Loading the waste into the Machine • Quality of compost produced

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USE OF COMPOST FROM FOOD WASTEThe compost produced was used by the Landscape Department of MPSJ for maintaining their parks and landscapes. Apart from internal use, MPSJ also packed the composts and distributed it for free to the participating hawkers as an incentive as well as distributed to the public during road shows and promotional programmes.

• The compost produced from the food waste (left) and application for gardening / flowering by the MPSJ Landscape Department (right)

Composting machineprocesses the foodwaste into compostwithin 24-48 hours

Contractor collectsand transports the

food waste to USJ 1Composting Facility

Hawkers transfer theirfood waste to a

communal waste bin

Hawkers separatefood waste anddispose of it into

special waste bins

Hawkers generate foodwaste from food

preparation and consumption

MPSJ uses the compost forparks and landscapes anddistributes it to the hawkers

for gardening

Compost returns to nature asnutrients for plant growth and yield

which in turn, are used as rawingredients in food preparation

THE OVERALL OPERATION OF THE COMPOSTING PROGRAMME

The overall workflow of the operation is illustrated as below:

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OUTREACH AND PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIESTo increase the participation of the hawkers in the food waste segregation, MPSJ has organised a series of site visits to the composting facility for the representatives of USJ 7 and SS 13 hawker centres. The visits enabled the hawkers to fully understand the system and the outcome of their efforts to segregate food waste at source. To recognise the hawkers’ contributions to the project, compost was distributed to the hawkers as a reward.

Furthermore, MPSJ organised a special open-day event at the composting facility in conjunction with the “Recycling and Environment Day” celebration on 8 July 2009. The event was opened for all and was attended by both the public and the hawkers who have participated in the community initiative project. During the opening ceremony, the Mayor of MPSJ has explained the problems of traditional food waste disposal at disposal sites and highlighted the objectives of the community initiative project turning food waste into useful resources.

MPSJ also produced a video on the project to provide visualised information to any interested party on composting of food waste. The video showcases the various stages of the project starting from segregation, transportation, screening and processing of food waste until packaging and usage of the composts. In addition, a website was also created to publicise the project, to maintain the on-going support from the hawkers as well as to disseminate experience learnt about composting of food waste.

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MONITORING AND EVALUATIONPARTICIPATION OF HAWKERSAs described above, the participation of the hawkers was observed to be rather low during the trial period. After the trial period, the task force therefore, has carried out the described series of awareness activities to encourage the participation of hawkers.

The face - to- face visits to the hawkers and the visit by hawkers to the composting facility were found to be most effective. The distribution of final compost to the hawkers was also very successful. It clearly demonstrated the value and outcome of their efforts to them.

The efforts were rewarded with a considerable increase in participation from the hawkers. The increase in food waste collected from the 4 hawker centres, especially over the last 2 months of the pilot project period (graph below) is a concrete indication of the improved participation rate. This indicates that the continuous awareness and outreach programmes were effective in encouraging more participation.

The achieved participation of hawkers in the segregation of food waste was one of the most important successes of this pilot project.

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The face - to-face visits to the hawkers and the visit by hawkers to the composting facility were found to be meffective. The distribution of final compost to the hawkers was also very successful. It clearly demonstrated value and outcome of their efforts to them.

The efforts were rewarded with a considerable increase in participation from the hawkers. The increase in fwaste collected from the 4 hawker centres, especially over the last 2 months of the pilot project period (graph bels a concrete indication of the improved participation rate. This indicates that the continuous awareness outreach programmes were effective in encouraging more participation.

The achieved participation of hawkers in the segregation of food waste was one of the most important succesof this pilot project.

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Nov 08 Dec 08 Jan 09 Feb 09 March 09 Apr 09MONTHS

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(Kg/

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AMOUNT OF FOOD WASTECOLLECTED (Kg/ Month) FROM 4 HAWKERS (NOV 08 - APR 09)

Amount of Food Waste Collected at the selected 4 hawker centres

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QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEYA questionnaire survey on the participation of the hawkers was carried out by MPSJ after 6 months of operation to assess the effectiveness of the project. A total of 26 hawkers from the 4 participating hawker centres were selected on a random basis for the survey. The survey gave insight in the hawkers’ ideas on food waste segregation and composting and provided information to MPSJ on further awareness activities required if the project were to be replicated to other potential hawker centres.

The survey showed that 77% of the respondents or 21 hawkers have attended the awareness briefings organised by MPSJ. Many hawkers claimed that they have benefited from these talks, gaining better understanding of composting and its benefits to the environment.

92% of the hawkers interviewed believed that food waste separation at source and composting are beneficial to the environment. They expressed that the segregation was not considered a burden to them because the selected method of food waste segregation was easy to follow. The hawkers also showed positive feedback and high interest in the composts produced from the segregated food waste.

The survey documented the reasons for the hawkers to participate in the initiative as illustrated in chart below:

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rvey showed that 77% of the respondents or 21 hawkers have attended the awareness briefings orgSJ. Many hawkers claimed that they have benefited from these talks, gaining better understansting and its benefits to the environment.

f the hawkers interviewed believed that food waste separation at source and composting are beneficianment. They expressed that the segregation was not considered a burden to them because the sd of food waste segregation was easy to follow. The hawkers also showed positive feedback and high composts produced from the segregated food waste.

rvey documented the reasons for the hawkers to participate in the initiative as illustrated in chart bel

Reasons for Participating by Hawkers in Composting in Subang Jaya (in Percentage of Respondents)

14OTHER

REASON

43ENVIRONMENTAL

PURPOSE29

INFLUENCED BY OTHER

14WASTE

REDUCTION

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1414

FOOD WASTE COLLECTEDCOMPOST PRODUCED

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Nov Dec Jan Feb Mac Apr0

COLLECTION OF FOOD WASTE AND PRODUCTION OF COMPOSTDuring the period from November 2008 to February 2009, the volume of food waste collected from the hawker centres became a concern to the project. 6 tonnes of food waste or around 50 kg/day were received. Over-estimation of the food waste generation at the hawker centres proved to be the main reason for the low collection rate. It was found that some hawker stalls were not in operation and some did not generate any significant amount of food waste as they are only selling beverages. Increase in participation from the hawkers would therefore, not be sufficient to fully utilise the capacity of the composting machines.

In addition to the continuous efforts to increase participation from the hawkers, the taskforce therefore, decided to include food waste from other sources. MPSJ approached the hypermart (Jusco Bandar Sunway) in view that the food courts in the hypermart generate significant amount of food waste every day. Jusco Bandar Sunway was positive towards participating and bins were subsequently provided to them by MPSJ. The involvement of the hypermart in the project from March 2009 has significantly increased the food waste amount received, reaching about 90% to 100% of the capacity of the composting machines from March and April 2009.

Since the operation of the food waste composting facility from November 2008 until April 2009, a total of 21 tonnes of food waste have been collected from the 4 hawker centres and Jusco Bandar Sunway, resulting in about 15 tonnes (including saw dust input) of composts being produced (see graph below). The volume of food waste was on average, reduced by approximately 50% after the composting process.

PERIOD

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Volume of Food Waste Collected and Compost Produced, November 2008 - April 2009

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Nitrogen (N) Potash (K2O) Phosphate (P2O6) Magnesium Oxide (MgO) Calcium oxide (CaO) 1.95 0.66 1.12 0.11 1.56

Project Costs Unit Total

A) Total Capital Costs 2 machines of 250kg capacity each RM156,800.00

Grease trap RM3,500.00

Bins for collection RM6,600.00

Operational Costs

1) Electricity RM1,428.81 X 6 month RM8,572.90

2) Water RM40.30 X 6 month RM241.80

3) Usage of Microbe RM500.00 X 4 times RM2,000.00

4) Contractor Service RM1,300.00 X 6 month RM7,800.00

B) Total operational costs RM18,614.70

C) Indirect Costs

1) MPSJ Workers Insignificant Insignificant

2) Packaging Costs Insignificant Insignificant

QUALITY OF THE COMPOSTSamples of the compost produced were tested at a laboratory. The nutrient content appeared to be good, with high levels of nitrogen, phosphate and calcium oxide as compared to typical compost (summarised in table below). It is an indication that the compost may be used as fertilizer supplement in addition to the use as soil-conditioner for landscaping and gardening.

ASSESSMENT OF COST AND BENEFITSAn assessment of the cost and revenue of the project was carried out towards the completion of this pilot project. The details of the capital expenditure, operating expenditure and revenue (cost savings) are outlined in the table below.

The major capital outlay for the project was the 2 high-speed composting machines.

The major operating expenses were electricity and the transport cost from the hawker centres to the composting facility.

The main cost savings were savings on transportation costs for waste to disposal, landfill tipping fees and the savings from purchasing chemical fertilisers.

Nutrient Content of MPSJ’s Compost

Cost-Benefit Analysis of MPSJ’s Community Food Waste Composting Project, November 2008 to April 2009

Note: a) Electricity and water consumptions are based on actual bills b) Assumption to top up microbe 2 times over 6 months of 1kg for each machine

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Project Benefits Unit Total

A) Cost Savings

1) Waste Tipping Fees RM45.00 X 20.8 tonnes RM935.00

2) Waste Collection Costs RM1,950.00 X 6 month RM11,700.00

3) Cost of Compost RM500.00 X 14.9 tonnes RM7,450.00

Total RM20,085.00

Indirect Benefits

1) Saving of Environmental

Damage cost

- Contamination of Land

- Leachate Treatment Cost Not Accounted

- Human Health Risk

- Greenhouse Gases Emission

2) Creation of Awareness - Among the Hawkers

Not Accounted

Not Accounted

Not Accounted

Note: a) The waste collection fee is assumed to be 50% more as compared to the collection done to bring the waste to the composting site due to the travelling distances (normal disposal to Jeram Landfill) b) The tipping fee refers to the gate fee of entering Jeram Landfill c) The cost of typical compost used here was provided by MBSJ based on current market price for compost of lower fertilising value. Thus, the actual value of the food waste derived compost is expected to be higher. The savings of chemical fertiliser which is in used now is also not accounted for here.

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ollection fee is assumed to be 50% more as compared to the collection done to bring the waste to the site due to the travelling distances (normal disposal to Jeram Landfill) ee refers to the gate fee of entering Jeram Landfillypical compost used here was provided by MBSJ based on current market price for compost of lower ue. Thus, the actual value of the food waste derived compost is expected to be higher. The savings of iliser which is in used now is also not accounted for here.

From a commercial point of view, the high capital and operating cost for the selected technically advanced in-vessel high-speed solution renders the system economically non-viable. However, the system may still require lower financial support than the alternative collection and disposal costs for traditional waste disposal, implying that the solution still may constitute an economically attractive option for the solid waste management system. The costs may further be reduced in the future. The main operating costs for the system were the electricity consumption and the transportation cost. These costs might be reduced with the improvement of energy efficiency as well as the optimisation of transportation of waste.

The selected in-vessel high-speed composting process allows very short composting time and very small land requirements and is therefore, suitable for congested areas where space constraint is a major barrier. In most cases where reasonable access to space is possible, traditional composting techniques with less capital and operating costs would probably be applied.

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Benefits, Challenges and Key Lessons Learnt

BENEFITSThe main impact of this project is the documentation that awareness among hawkers on the need for source segregation and recycling can easily be established. This is a very important and very positive message for all future recycling initiatives, targeting small scale businesses.

The participants were not only made aware of the potential of waste recycling, but also experienced it hands-on through the participation in the process. Evidently, the steady increase of food waste received from the hawker centres correlates to the level of awareness and support from the hawkers.

The environmental benefits include: • Avoided environmental degradation by the reduced use of landfill space, reduced greenhouse gas emission and leachate formation, reduced human health risk and so forth. • The use of compost reduces the usage of chemical fertiliser which saves resources and further reduces environmental degradation.

Overall, the initiative has been very successful. As the first community initiative to turn hawker food waste into useful compost, the project has already recorded success in demonstrating that such system can be applied and that strong support and participation from the hawkers and other stakeholders may be established.

However, as indicated above, the decision on the technical design of such system should also consider the different technology options that would influence the costs and revenues of the system.

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INCENTIVES TO INCULCATE FOOD WASTE SEGREGATION AT SOURCE Segregation of food waste to become a routine for the hawkers is crucial for the success of the project. Besides organising awareness activities to stir interest, possible incentives may be awarded to ensure participation. Giving away free compost and gardening kits to participating hawkers can be an effective way of sustaining their interest in practising food waste segregation and encouraging them to practise gardening, towards healthy lifestyle.

SCREENING AND PROCESSING OF FOOD WASTEDuring the operation, some food wastes received at the composting facility were found to be mixed with non-food waste materials such as fork and spoons, straws, chopsticks, etc. By simple screening processes, it has been possible to manually sort out these materials. Further, it was found that the food waste contains very high moisture and oil content. It is therefore, recommended that the food wastes should be drained before being fed in to the composting machines to reduce the liquid load to the machines. Oil and grease trap should be installed to cater for the water drained of.

According to the machine’s specification, food waste can be processed into compost within 24 to 48 hours depending on the waste composition. However, the actual operation shows that 48 hours is the optimum process duration for producing better qualities of more matured composts.

ALTERNATIVE METHOD FOR COMPOSTING In this project, the composting was done using advanced in-vessel high-speed composting machine which utilises mechanical turning and temperature control. This method requires very short time to achieve composting but it requires high investment and operating costs, i.e. energy (electricity). There are other alternatives available which can be considered such as conventional windrow, aerated chamber composting and bin composting methods. These conventional methods imply less capital costs and consume less energy. They do, however, require longer composting period and have larger land requirements. Windrow composting in particular, requires large space or land to carry out the composting process. Detailed comparison of the pros and cons of these alternative composting methods will depend on the local conditions.

CHALLENGES AND KEY LESSONS LEARNTThe project has overcome a number of challenges. They are discussed as follow:

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Sustaining the Project

MPSJ is determined to sustain the initiative and replicate the food waste composting system for other hawker centres. Several activities have been carried out by MPSJ to provide the groundwork for replication:

• RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT – MPSJ has performed laboratory analyses of the compost quality and is currently collaborating with Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) to enhance the quality of the composts as well as to undertake other research concerning the compost products. • PROMOTION FOR THE COMPOST – MPSJ plans to promote and commercialise the compost to the public, hoping that it will create public awareness about composting of food waste. The composts can be used as fertiliser or soil conditioner depending on the quality.

• GUIDANCE FOR COMPOSTING – MPSJ plans to provide information and guidance to the public through mass media and by initiating a special website dedicated for composting. The website will introduce the public to various methods of composting and teach them on how to do composting at home.

• ESTABLISH A COMPOSTING CENTRE FOR THE PUBLIC – MPSJ also plans to establish a composting facility which is open to accept food waste from the public. This is mainly aimed to create awareness and encourage the public to drop off their food waste to the composting facility.

In case the revenue gained from the compost produced by MPSJ is not enough to sustain and expand the composting system, MPSJ is committed to support the operations by providing manpower and financial support for the purchase of the microbes for the composting process, maintenance of the composting machines and paying for the electricity and water bills, etc.

As a long term sustainability plan, MPSJ is planning to construct a centralised recycling centre on a 2-acre land at Lot PT 300, Subang Jaya. The proposed plan will integrate the existing composting facility at USJ 1. More composting machines may be set-up at the new site to recycle more food waste from various parts of Subang Jaya.

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2020

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Printed on Recycled Paper

FSC Certi�ed

Creating Awareness and Public Participation on recycling among

Hawkers in Subang Jaya

SOURCE SEPARATION OF FOOD WASTE - TURNING

WASTE INTO COMPOST

Majlis PerbadananSubang Jaya