Abstract
Food waste (FW) is an omnipresent phenomenon and there is no exception in Malaysia. Statistics compiled by SWCorp Malaysia indicate that Malaysians typically produce 38,000 t/d of municipal solid waste (MSW), in which FW encompasses about 40 % or 15,000 t/d. To make the matter worse, more than 80% of the FW ended up in open landfills with no energy recovery system, posing a serious environmental concern and energy waste. Meanwhile, the Malaysia Government proposed to reduce up to 40 % greenhouse gas emissions intensity of GDP compared to the 2005 level and realise the renewable energy mix to 20 % by 2025. While the Malaysia Government emphasises on solar and hydro powers as renewable energies, unavoidable FW should be recycled and valorised to renewable biogas and other value-added products as far as possible. Although the Malaysia Government has formulated plans to prevent and reduce FW, most of the FW is still yet to be recycled and separated from other MSW at the source. It is important to note that if FW is mixed with other MSW, it will be contaminated and cannot be recycled for beneficial use. Hence, a simple sorting process is essential to motivate the people to separate FW from the other MSW at the source.
