source separation of food waste - turning waste into compost

SOURCE SEPARATION OF
FOOD WASTE - TURNING
WASTE INTO COMPOST
Creating Awareness and Public
Participation on recycling among
Hawkers in Subang Jaya
Majlis Perbadanan
Subang Jaya

CARRIED OUT BY:
Majlis Daerah Pekan, Pahang
FUNDED BY:
Solid Waste Management Component (SWMC)
Community Initiative and Educational Fund
DANIDA
CONSULTANT (RESPONSIBLE ENTITY):
Perunding Uras d.S
AUTHOR:
Eco-Ideal Consilting Sdn Bhd
PUBLISHED BY:
Department of National Solid Waste Management
Ministry of Housing and Local Government
Level 2 & 4, Block B North, Pusat Bandar Damansara
50644 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +603 2092 4488
Fax: +603 2093 5982
www.kpkt.gov.my
PRINTED BY:
Meridian Solutions
1st Edition
December 2009
1,000 Copies

Table of Contents
Abbreviations and Acronyms
i
Foreword
ii
Message
iii
Background 1
The Project Design and Implementation
3
Benefits, Challenges and Key Lessons Learnt 17
Sustaining the Project 19

Abbreviations and Acronyms
DANIDA
JPSPN
MARDI
MHLG
MPSJ
NGOs
NSP
Danish International Development Assistance
Jabatan Pengurusan Sisa Pepejal Negara
(Department of National Solid Waste Management)
Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute
Ministry of Housing and Local Government
Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya (Subang Jaya Municipal Council)
Non - Governmental Organisations
National Strategic Plan
i

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.
Dato’ Adnan bin Hj. Md Ikshan
Yang Dipertua
SUBANG JAYA MUNICIPAL COUNCIL
ii

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 participation
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.
DATO’ NADZRI BIN YAHAYA, Ph.D
Director General
Department of National Solid Waste Management
Ministry of Housing and Local Government
iii

Background
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 reported 1 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).
1

COMPOSTING AND ITS BENEFITS
MPSJ 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 s under controlled high
temperature was chosen for this Community Initiative to ensure effective
composting within the possible shortest period.
KEY FACTS
ABOUT
COMPOSTING
• 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.
2

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.
3

The process plan of the entire design of the community Initiative Project is as shown below:
Prepare and submit Project
Proposal to MHLG
Approved Project Proposed by
MHLG and Secured Funding from
DANIDA- Community Initiatives
Establish a Taskforce Commitee
Prepare
Awareness-
Creation
Set Up of Food
Waste Composting
Facility
Separate and Collect Food Waste
at Hawker Centres
Transfer Food Waste to Food
Waste Composting Facility
Produce Compost or Soil
Conduct Survey
Evaluate and Review Results for
Replication
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION FLOW
4

PLANNING
ESTABLISHING A TASKFORCE
Led 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 AWARENESS
Hawker 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.
STAKEHOLDERS
& THEIR ROLES
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
5

SETTING UP OF FOOD WASTE SEPARATION
AND COMPOSTING FACILITIES
The 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.
• Waste Bin at Individual Hawker Stall
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.
• Communal Waste Bin
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.
6
• In Vessel Composting machine

IMPLEMENTATION
TRIAL RUN
A 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.
As a response to the findings from the trial period, the taskforce
subsequently took the following actions to overcome the challenges:
• 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.
7

• 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
• Composting facility at USJ1
8
• Grease Trap Installed at the Site

OPERATION OF THE FOOD WASTE SYSTEM
Full 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
9

USE OF COMPOST FROM FOOD WASTE
The 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)
The overall workflow of the operation is illustrated as below:
Compost returns to nature as
nutrients for plant growth and yield
which in turn, are used as raw
ingredients in food preparation
Hawkers generate food
waste from food
preparation and consumption
MPSJ uses the compost for
parks and landscapes and
distributes it to the hawkers
for gardening
Hawkers separate
food waste and
dispose of it into
special waste bins
Composting machine
processes the food
waste into compost
within 24-48 hours
Contractor collects
and transports the
food waste to USJ 1
Composting Facility
Hawkers transfer their
food waste to a
communal waste bin
THE OVERALL OPERATION OF THE COMPOSTING PROGRAMME
10

OUTREACH AND PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES
To 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.
11

MONITORING AND EVALUATION
PARTICIPATION OF HAWKERS
As 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.
AMOUNT OF WASTE COLLECTED (Kg/ Month)
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
AMOUNT OF FOOD WASTE
COLLECTED (Kg/ Month) FROM 4 HAWKERS (NOV 08 - APR 09)
Nov 08 Dec 08 Jan 09 Feb 09 March 09 Apr 09
MONTHS
Amount of Food Waste Collected at the selected 4 hawker centres
12

QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY
A 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. nment. 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:
14
OTHER
REASON
29
INFLUENCED
BY OTHER
43
ENVIRONMENTAL
PURPOSE
14
WASTE
REDUCTION
Reasons for Participating by Hawkers in Composting in Subang Jaya (in Percentage of Respondents)
13

COLLECTION OF FOOD WASTE AND PRODUCTION OF COMPOST
During 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.
AMOUNT (Tonnes)
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mac Apr
PERIOD
FOOD WASTE COLLECTED
COMPOST PRODUCED
Volume of Food Waste Collected and Compost Produced, November 2008 - April 2009
14

QUALITY OF THE COMPOST
Samples 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.
Nitrogen (N) Potash (K2O) Phosphate (P2O6) Magnesium Oxide (MgO) Calcium oxide (CaO)
1.95 0.66 1.12 0.11 1.56
Nutrient Content of MPSJ’s Compost
ASSESSMENT OF COST AND BENEFITS
An 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.
Cost-Benefit Analysis of MPSJ’s Community Food Waste Composting Project,
November 2008 to April 2009
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
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
15

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
Not Accounted
- Human Health Risk
- Greenhouse Gases Emission
2) Creation of Awareness
- Among the Hawkers
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.
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
BENEFITS
The 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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CHALLENGES AND KEY LESSONS LEARNT
The project has overcome a number of challenges. They are discussed as follow:
• 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 WASTE
During 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.
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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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