Food Waste Composting at Faculty of Engineering …
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has been successfully conducted worldwide by various improved composting techniques, for example, applying bulking agent and co-composting (Adhikari et al. 2009;
Fan et al. 2016; Zahrim et al. 2016). Bulking agent such as sugar cane bagasse, rice
husk, wood chips, chopped wheat straw, wood shavings, waste paper, and dry leaves
have received significant attention nowadays (Adhikari et al. 2009; Fan et al. 2016;
Zhang and Sun 2018). The bulking agents help to absorb part of the leachate produced
during the decomposition process, to keep the mixture moist and sustain an active
microbial activity (Iqbal et al. 2010). In addition, bulking agents gives structure and
porosity to the mixture for proper aeration (Adhikari et al. 2009).
The National Strategic Plan for Food Waste Management in Malaysia
(NSPFWMM) was planned and proposed by the Ministry of Housing and Local
Government of Malaysia with collaboration with the Japan government’s Ministry
of the Environment in 2010. There are six main strategies highlighted which aim
to inculcate public with a good habit of food waste disposal including food waste
segregation for reducing greenhouse gases emission and reducing land utilization
(Lim et al. 2016). In line with this, the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MBPJ) has
established a pilot-scale composting facility in association with Shence Greentech
Sdn Bhd. in 2013. The food waste treatment model by MBPJ probably could be a
model for other councils in Malaysia. At research capacity, local tertiary institutions
such as Universiti Malaya and Universiti Putra Malaysia have set up a pilot-scale food
waste digester (Cowtech CTM-100, CH Green Sdn. Bhd., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia),
which is able to process food waste into liquid fertilizer and biogas at a capacity of
100 kg/day for its Zero Waste Campaign and efforts towards sustainable agricultural farming, respectively (Lim et al. 2016). These motivates further research on
this particular area as food waste can be highly variable depending on its source
and is strongly dependent on the eating habits of consumers (Cerda et al. 2018). For
this reason, local characterization of food waste is important for the accurate design
of composting systems. The recipes of compost highly depend on the food waste
characteristics (Adhikari et al. 2008).
Therefore, in this work, an audit on waste generation in Faculty of Engineering
(FKJ) cafeteria UMS has been conducted to quantitatively determine the amount
and profile of waste. Food waste was further utilized as composting material with
the use of dry leaves as bulking agent. Besides readily available, utilization of dry
leaves collected from landscape at FKJ would not require extra transportation cost.
Composting process was conducted in a locally fabricated composter.
175
has been successfully conducted worldwide by various improved composting techniques, for example, applying bulking agent and co-composting (Adhikari et al. 2009;
Fan et al. 2016; Zahrim et al. 2016). Bulking agent such as sugar cane bagasse, rice
husk, wood chips, chopped wheat straw, wood shavings, waste paper, and dry leaves
have received significant attention nowadays (Adhikari et al. 2009; Fan et al. 2016;
Zhang and Sun 2018). The bulking agents help to absorb part of the leachate produced
during the decomposition process, to keep the mixture moist and sustain an active
microbial activity (Iqbal et al. 2010). In addition, bulking agents gives structure and
porosity to the mixture for proper aeration (Adhikari et al. 2009).
The National Strategic Plan for Food Waste Management in Malaysia
(NSPFWMM) was planned and proposed by the Ministry of Housing and Local
Government of Malaysia with collaboration with the Japan government’s Ministry
of the Environment in 2010. There are six main strategies highlighted which aim
to inculcate public with a good habit of food waste disposal including food waste
segregation for reducing greenhouse gases emission and reducing land utilization
(Lim et al. 2016). In line with this, the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MBPJ) has
established a pilot-scale composting facility in association with Shence Greentech
Sdn Bhd. in 2013. The food waste treatment model by MBPJ probably could be a
model for other councils in Malaysia. At research capacity, local tertiary institutions
such as Universiti Malaya and Universiti Putra Malaysia have set up a pilot-scale food
waste digester (Cowtech CTM-100, CH Green Sdn. Bhd., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia),
which is able to process food waste into liquid fertilizer and biogas at a capacity of
100 kg/day for its Zero Waste Campaign and efforts towards sustainable agricultural farming, respectively (Lim et al. 2016). These motivates further research on
this particular area as food waste can be highly variable depending on its source
and is strongly dependent on the eating habits of consumers (Cerda et al. 2018). For
this reason, local characterization of food waste is important for the accurate design
of composting systems. The recipes of compost highly depend on the food waste
characteristics (Adhikari et al. 2008).
Therefore, in this work, an audit on waste generation in Faculty of Engineering
(FKJ) cafeteria UMS has been conducted to quantitatively determine the amount
and profile of waste. Food waste was further utilized as composting material with
the use of dry leaves as bulking agent. Besides readily available, utilization of dry
leaves collected from landscape at FKJ would not require extra transportation cost.
Composting process was conducted in a locally fabricated composter.