source separation of food waste - turning waste into compost

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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