“The main objective is to ensure that waste does not go to landfills,” said Shahruddin Hamid.
Kuantan:
Outside a mosque in Malaysia, people throw leftovers after the fasting month of Ramadan into a machine that turns food scraps into organic fertilizer for crops.
Government initiatives in the central Pahang region aim to reduce waste, especially during the Muslim holy month when huge amounts of food are thrown away every day.
During Ramadan, the mobile machine was deployed in a park in the center of the state capital Kuantan, where many families gathered every evening to enjoy cheap local dishes after a day of fasting.
The company processes 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of waste per day, said Sharudin Hamid, state director of the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Company, which launched the pilot project last year.
More than 13,000 tonnes of food is sent to landfill every day in the Muslim-majority country, and during Ramadan that amount is only a fraction, but Shahruddin said it helped raise awareness of food waste .
“The main objective is to ensure that waste is not sent to landfills,” Shahruddin told AFP.
“This has had a significant impact on us as people are becoming more aware of environmental protection, especially when it comes to reducing food waste.”
Food scraps are thrown into the machine and slowly mixed with rice husks and sawdust for 48 hours.
The brown waste is then packaged and given to farmers for use as fertilizer for their crops.
“Things grown from fertilizer can also be turned into food, food,” said Abdul Shukor Mohamad Salleh, 27, while shopping for local delicacies at the Ramadan food market in Kuantan. And it can be composted into fertilizer. So it’s a natural cycle.” There are a lot of them across the country.
Zullyna Mohamed Nordin, 53, sprays her vegetable, banana and pineapple crops with organic liquid fertilizer derived from recycled food waste on her small plot of land near the city.
She receives 30 kilograms of fertilizer every month and more during Ramadan.
“Since last June I have stopped using expensive chemical inputs. It is natural, organic and increases productivity,” Zulina told AFP.
“My leafy vegetables are bigger and greener.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
