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Creating Awareness and Public Participation on recycling among Hawkers in 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 Foreword Message Background The Project Design and Implementation Benefits, Challenges and Key Lessons Learnt Sustaining the Project i ii iii 1 3 17 19
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
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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
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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 reported1 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 g g 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).
Composting is an accelerated
process of natural decomposition of organic matters into compost by microorganisms, mainly bacteria and fungi under the presence of oxygen.
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 AwarenessCreation 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
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.
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.
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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 stepby-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.
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.
The compost produced from the food waste (left) and application for gardening / flowering by the MPSJ Landscape Department (right)
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
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AMOUNT OF FOOD WASTE COLLECTED (Kg/ Month) FROM 4 HAWKERS (NOV 08 - APR 09) AMOUNT OF WASTE COLLECTED (Kg/ Month)
3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Nov 08 Dec 08 Jan 09 Feb 09 March 09 Apr 09
MONTHS
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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 rvey showed that 77% of the respondents or 21 hawkers have attended the awareness briefings organised org by MPSJ. of SJ. Many hawkers claimed that they have benefited from these talks, gaining better understanding understan composting sting and its benefits to the environment. 92% of f the hawkers interviewed believed that food waste separation at source and composting are beneficial beneficia to the environment. nment. They expressed that the segregation was not considered a burden to them because the selected s method d 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 rvey documented the reasons for the hawkers to participate in the initiative as illustrated in chart below: bel
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OTHER REASON
29
INFLUENCED BY OTHER
43
ENVIRONMENTAL PURPOSE
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WASTE REDUCTION
Reasons for Participating by Hawkers in Composting in Subang Jaya (in Percentage of Respondents)
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9000 8000
AMOUNT (Tonnes)
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
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1.95
0.66
1.12
0.11
1.56
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
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Project Benefits A) Cost Savings 1) Waste Tipping Fees 2) Waste Collection Costs 3) Cost of Compost Total Indirect Benefits 1) Saving of Environmental Damage cost - Contamination of Land - Leachate Treatment Cost - Human Health Risk - Greenhouse Gases Emission 2) Creation of Awareness - Among the Hawkers
Unit
Total
Not Accounted
Not Accounted
Not Accounted
Not Accounted
Note: a) The waste collection ollection 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 ee refers to the gate fee of entering Jeram Landfill c) The cost of typical ypical compost used here was provided by MBSJ based on current market price for compost of lower fertilising value. ue. Thus, the actual value of the food waste derived compost is expected to be higher. The savings of chemical fertiliser iliser 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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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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