FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

DIPLOMA IN BANKING STUDIES

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
MGT269

ANALYTICAL REPORT
FOOD WASTE ISSUES IN MALAYSIA

BA119 2J
PREPARED FOR:
MISS AZENI ABU BAKAR

PREPARED BY:
GROUP 5

1. MUHAMMAD FARIS HAKIMI BINTI SAHID 2022847822

2. NUR BATRISYIA AUNI BINTI MASWARI 2022471494
3. NURIN’AZMATUN BINTI ISHAK 2022846674
4. SITI NUR HIDAYAH BINTI AHMAD TARMIZI 2022880826
5. WAN NURUL FATIN NAJLEEN BINTI WAN ABD LATIFF 2022645314

SUBMISSION DATE:

20th May 2023

 LETTER TRANSMITTIAL

Muhammad Faris Hakimi Binti Sahid

Diploma in Banking Studies (BA119)
Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pahang
Kampus Raub
27600 Pahang

20 May 2023

Miss Azeni Abu Bakar

Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Business and Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pahang
Kampus Raub
27600 Pahang

Madam,

SUBMISSION OF GROUP ANALYTICAL REPORT TITLED FOOD WASTE ISSUE

IN MALAYSIA

With great pleasure, we hereby submit our group analytical report entitled Food Waste Issue
in Malaysia in partial fulfilment of the Business Communication (MGT269) course
requirement.

The report was designed to determine the factors that contribute to food waste. Next, to
understand the effects of food waste on the environmental, economic, and social Lastly, to
summarise the strategies to reduce food waste,

Secondary sources were mainly used, which include online databases, newspapers, and other
information on the internet. We have strictly followed all formatting requirements as stated in
the guidelines given.

We hope that this report meets your criteria and merits your approval.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely

…………………………………….
Muhammad Faris Hakimi bin Sahid
2022857822
BA119 2J

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TABLE OF CONTENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY....................................................................................................iii
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................1
A) BACKGROUND OF PROBLEM...............................................................................1
B) PURPOSE....................................................................................................................2
C) SCOPE.........................................................................................................................2
D) METHOD OF INVESTIGATION..............................................................................2
E) LIMITATIONS............................................................................................................3
FINDING/ DATA ANALYSIS.................................................................................................4
1.0 Factors of Food Waste......................................................................................................4
1.0.1 Human behaviour.......................................................................................................4
1.0.2 Poor Planning.............................................................................................................5
1.0.3 Improper Storage.......................................................................................................7
3.0 Effects of Food Waste.......................................................................................................9
3.0.1 Environmental Impacts..............................................................................................9
3.0.2 Economic Impacts....................................................................................................12
3.0.3 Social Impacts..........................................................................................................13
3.0 Strategies to reduce food waste......................................................................................14
3.0.3 Recycle Food Waste with Composting....................................................................18
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................19
RECOMMENDATION.........................................................................................................20

TABLE OF FIGURE
Figure 1 The most serious food waste banquet believed by Malaysian.....................................4
Figure 2 Distribution of Buying Centre During Panic Buying..................................................6
Figure 3 Effects of Food Waste..................................................................................................9
Figure 4 Malaysia Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions............................................................10
Figure 5 Carbon Dioxide CO2 equation..................................................................................11
Figure 6 Waste Disposed in 2002.............................................................................................14
Figure 7 Waste Disposed in 2006.............................................................................................15
Figure 8 Waste Disposed Targeted in 2020..............................................................................16

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Food waste is becoming a serious problem since the number of meals wasted in Malaysia
keeps increasing from year to year. It refers to the significant amount of edible food that is
discarded and wasted rather than being consumed or utilised effectively. Food waste occurs at
various stages of the supply chain, from production and processing to distribution and
consumption.

One of the purposes of this report is to determine the factors that contribute to food waste in
Malaysia. Some do not realise that they are actually one of the causes of this problem. This
report will highlight how human behaviour contributes to this problem. They are both
consumers and the production itself that cause food waste. This is because the supply is not
matching the demand at this particular time. For example, food waste commonly happens
during festivities or banquets. The next factor in this report is poor planning. Consumers buy
too much food and end up wasting everything. Lastly, improper storage is also one of the
factors contributing to food waste. Food is spoiled when it is not in proper condition and
cannot be eaten anymore.

The next purpose of this report is to understand the effect of food waste in Malaysia. We
narrow the scope to understand food waste's effects on the environment, both economic and
social. In terms of environmental effects, it may cause global warming and biodiversity loss.
Besides, the economic impacts of food waste in Malaysia are significant, affecting various
sectors of the economy, including food and agriculture. Lastly, social impacts in this report
highlight how food waste affects both humans and animals.

Last but not least, this report includes a summary of strategic initiatives from the government.
The strategy that is currently the main method of disposing of waste in 2020 is landfilling.
Also, the Malaysian government launched an aggressive campaign in order to gain more
awareness among Malaysians. The last strategy is recycling food waste through composting.
The government believes this method is one of the most effective ways to reduce waste.

In conclusion, to live a sustainable and healthy lifestyle, individuals must be aware of and
stop the trend of wasting food. By valuing and utilising food more efficiently, we can not
only reduce the strain on our planet's resources but also ensure that everyone has access to
nutritious food.

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iv
INTRODUCTION

A) BACKGROUND OF PROBLEM

Food waste is the discarding of food and its associated inedible components from the retail,
food service, and household segments of the human food supply chain (FAO, 2021). This can
happen at any point along the food supply chain, from manufacturing to consumption. Food
waste includes unharvested fruits and vegetables, items that expire or decay on shop shelves,
food that is not sold or consumed in restaurants or households, and food that is discarded due
to overproduction, processing faults, or packaging damage (Josiane & Kennard, 2020).

Malaysian food is renowned for its delicious taste. Unfortunately, our culture has been
engrained with the practise of wasting food. Food waste is a problem that is getting worse in
Malaysia as the country's food security becomes a bigger issue. Malaysians produce 17007
metric tonnes of food waste daily in 2021 (Dermawan, 2022). Over the last two years, it
increased by 1.88%. Moreover, food waste is expected to increase between 15% and 20%
every festivity, such as Ramadhan, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, and Chinese New Year (Dawn,
2023).

Therefore, not every food has been thrown away and can’t be eaten anymore. The majority
(76%) were inedible, such as bones and fruit peel, but the other 24% could still be consumed,
such as leftover meat and vegetables (Dermawan, 2022). According to the Solid Waste
Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp), approximately 4080 metric
tonnes of avoidable food waste are discarded. 4080 metric tonnes of food can feed 3 million
people, which is more than the population of Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysians are not aware of this problem. Every day, a substantial amount of food is
discarded, adding to the strain on resources and exacerbating the food problem. The major
fractions from the past study that generate organic materials have the highest percentage,
which is 45%, contributing to the solid waste produced by Malaysia. Followed by 13%
plastics, 12% diapers, 9% paper, 3% glass, and others (Yong et al., 2019). This amount of
organic waste is really worrying for the environment, both economically and socially. Lastly,
we hope to find the best way to decrease the food waste problem so we can build a lovely and
comfortable environment.

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 B) PURPOSE
The main objectives for this report are,

1. To determine the factors contributing to food waste.

2. To understand the effects of food waste on the environmental, economic, and

social

3. To summarise the strategies to reduce food waste.

C) SCOPE
This report is about the food waste issue in Malaysia. This report seeks to understand the
causes of food waste in Malaysia as well as what would happen if it could not be stopped.
The report also aims to educate Malaysians on the negative effects of food waste on the
environment, the economy, and society. The report concludes by summarising the actions
that Malaysian citizens and the government may take to reduce food waste.

D) METHOD OF INVESTIGATION
Secondary data is the method of investigation in this report in order to gain more knowledge
about this topic. The information has already been obtained from a primary resource. This
method can save time and effort and prevent reinventing data. We gathered secondary data
from news article, websites, blogs, journals, articles, and other reports on the internet to
understand more about the effects and factors contributing to the food waste problem.

From the data we got, we were able to discover statistics or percentages of increased food
waste from year to year. Also, investigate the factors that influence the increase in food waste
and how food waste can impact the environment, economy, and society. We also find out
some related data about the subject. This data will be limited to Malaysia.

E) LIMITATIONS
There were several limitations while preparing this report. Due to this problem, several steps
have been taken to prevent the problem from affecting our report.

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Firstly, the limitation that we face is limited access to information. We have done a lot of
research on this topic, but some of our information cannot be used in this report. We have to
find other information to be used in this report. We cannot find the statistics about food waste
from a few years ago.

Secondly, because of the limited time We have limited time to finish this report. For example,
because of our pack schedule, the up-coming test and quiz Other than that, we have another
report and test to settle.

Last but not least, because of internet issues at our hostel, students always turn on the WIFI to
do research for their assignments or past-year papers. Due to this, it has slowed down the
process of searching for information.

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FINDING/ DATA ANALYSIS

1.0 Factors of Food Waste

1.0.1 Human behaviour

There are several things that lead to food waste. Human activity is one of the main causes of
food waste. Food waste is impacted both by consumer behaviour and retailer production.
According to previous research, Malaysians believed that the most serious cause of food
waste was banquets.

Figure 1The most serious food waste banquet believed by Malaysian

friend feast, 2.02

family feast, 7.07

wedding or be-
commercial banquet, reavement events,
39.14 51.77

1 2 3 4

Based on the pie chart above, weddings or bereavements are the most serious food waste
banquets believed by Malaysians. People spend a thousand ringgit on the food at weddings,
but around 40% of the food prepared goes to waste. This is because of poor planning by the
owner of the wedding. They prepared more food than the invited guests. Sometimes, it is not
the owner's fault but the guests who put too much food on the plate. In the end, the food taken
is not enough. In addition, they will just throw the food away.

Moreover, based on the pie chat, commercial banquets are also believed to be the most
serious food waste in Malaysia. The organisation involved uses a lot of food items for
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commercial banquets. Commercial banquets also have the same problem with weddings or
bereavement events. Usually, commercial banquets will make extra preparations to hold the
banquet. When they make extra food, the possibility of it going to waste will arise. But
usually, they will give the leftover food to their workers to reduce food waste.

In addition, based on the pie chart, the third one is a family feast. For your information, a
family feast is a party of family members gathered to have dinner together, also called a
family dinner. For example, family dinner on Lunar New Year’s Eve is the most important
dinner for Chinese because they will gather together every year. They will prepare a lot of
food because their family will gather to eat dinner together. They will prepare the food items
a week earlier, so the food items will spoil before use due to the expiration date.

Lastly, the friend feast A friend feast is quite the same as a family feast. Usually, the friend
feast will be held at a restaurant. But to compare friend feasts and family feasts, friend feasts
cause less food waste than family feasts, maybe because they will order one dish per person.
However, they will still cause food waste if they are unable to control their urge to try all
kinds of food.

1.0.2 Poor Planning

Secondly, food waste also increases when COVID-19 is launched in 2020 in Malaysia. It’s
because the government announced Malaysia will do MCO, causing people to panic buy.
Panic buying is one of the major factors in food waste when COVID-19 spreads.

What is panic buying? Panic buying is when consumers buy a large amount of food. For
example, they buy too much grocery to prepare if Malaysia experiences a food crisis, but they
do not notice that the food items that they buy may spoil because they were stored too long.
For example, chicken, fish, vegetables, and fruits Those food items will be wasted, increasing
food waste in Malaysia.

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Figure 2 Distribution of Buying Centre During Panic Buying

Based on the bar chart provided, the highest buying centre that has become the people's
choice is supermarkets, while the second place is grocery stores. Why supermarkets became
the highest is because supermarkets sell more household products, personal care products,
and many more. But if we need to compare with the grocery store, today the grocery store
also provides food and drink, but in small quantities. However, when panic buying happens in
both supermarkets and grocery stores, most of the shelves that sell food items are sold out,
such as instant noodles, Milo, and more. This will affect the food if it is stored much longer
than the expiration date.

Moreover, online shopping has become the third buying centre that people choose before
MCO. They might use a delivery application, such as Grab Food or Food Panda.

In addition, the public market placed fourth. The public market usually sells raw food
materials such as fish, chicken, beef, seafood, vegetables, and fruits. These raw food
materials are the types of food that easily get spoiled. In this case, improper storage will
affect the food.

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The last buying centre that people chose was a convenience store. Convenience stores are
small retail businesses that stock a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snacks,
and more. People usually do not go to convenience stores to buy their groceries, but because
of MCO, they had to buy groceries at convenience stores due to most supermarkets and
grocery stores being out of stock.

1.0.3 Improper Storage

Food spoilage can also lead to food waste. Food spoilage is the process by which food
becomes unsuitable for consumption by consumers. Food spoilage occurs at home due to
improper storage, improper arrangement of food, unclean storage of partially consumed
ingredients or food in refrigerators and misjudgement of the need for food (Pitt & Hocking,
2009).

First, improper storage is the handling of material storage or storage of food in the wrong
way and improper closing of the refrigerator. For example, Improper storage can be because
of improper closing of the refrigerator allows hot heat from outside into the refrigerator. This
can cause the food to spoil and become food waste. (FAO, 2023)

Second, improper arrangement of food in refrigerators can cause food spoilage. Why?
Because if we arrange the food incorrectly, it can make the food spoiled or stale. For
example, if we put wet food such as chicken or meat on the bottom of the refrigerator. This
may result in the wet food not receiving enough cold air and the food will spoil, and in this
case, the chicken will become unsightly because it is stored at the bottom of the refrigerator.
In addition, the arrangement of wet ingredients and vegetables or dry food can also cause
food to spoil, for example, vegetables will become wilted if they are stored together with wet
food such as chicken (Food Waste Stories,2020).

Third, the storage of partially consumed ingredients in the refrigerator is also one of the
causes of food spoilage, because food cannot be stored in the refrigerator for a long time after
opening. This may cause the yogurt or milk to spill or become stale, causing the food to spoil
(FAO, 2023)

Besides, misjudging food needs may also cause food spoilage. For example, when we buy
groceries such as onions, coconut sugar, milk, chicken, meat, rice, fish and so on without
thinking and causing the refrigerator to don’t have enough space to store them in the

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refrigerator. Dry ingredients can be stored outside the refrigerator such as onions, sugar and
rice but wet ingredients such as chicken and meat need to be stored in the refrigerator.
Finally, it causes the wet ingredients to become damaged, stale and rotten due to not being
stored in the refrigerator.

The next cause of food waste is the expiration date. (Diflucan Secondi,2019) Why can
expired dates cause food waste? It is because people often forget to pay attention to the
expiration date when they buy food. By the time they want to eat the food, it is already
expired and cannot be eaten, so the food becomes waste. In addition, people also tend to
confuse the date label. (FAO, 2023) For example, food is thrown away prematurely because
the meaning of the date labels is not clear.

Besides, the refrigerator is very important to store food ingredients such as wet ingredients,
dry ingredients and ingredients such as milk and coconut milk. If we do not have a
refrigerator or the refrigerator is defective, it may lead to food waste. (Food Waste
Stories,2020) The lack of refrigerators and damaged or problematic refrigerators can also
lead to food waste. There are several causes of missing or broken refrigerators, such as
financial problems and problems with lack of electricity idea by Mr Right, (Sangeeta
Singh,2021)

First, financial problems. What is the meaning of financial problems? Financial problems are
people who lack cash or people who ask for handouts and have problems buying important
necessities such as food or items such as televisions or refrigerators. An example of this is in
low-wage Britain, where working families have to rent a refrigerator. (SUN, Heather Stewart,
2015)

Last but not least, a lack of freezer options can also lead to food waste.(FAO, 2023) For
example, confusion about whether a product is suitable for freezing and how best to freeze it
to preserve its quality and shelf life can lead to food waste, such as when raw meat is not
frozen because households are confused and leave raw meat out for so long.

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2.0 Effects of Food Waste

Figure 3 Effects of Food Waste

3.0.1 Environmental Impacts

Protecting and preserving the environment is not only beneficial for human health but also
crucial for the long-term sustainability of the planet. Environmental degradation, such as
pollution, deforestation, and habitat destruction, can result in biodiversity loss and increased
sensitivity to global warming. Food waste is one of major factor contributing to global
warming is the rise of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere of the Earth. Greenhouse gas
emissions refer to the release of gases into the atmosphere that have the potential to trap.
These gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and various
fluorinated gases (Buzby, 2022).

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from food waste are a significant environmental problem.
Food waste not only results in the loss of precious resources but it also contributes to raising
the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) released into the atmosphere. When organic
material, such as food waste, is dumped in a landfill and is sealed off from the air, it
decomposes anaerobically and emits methane. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with a
much higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide over a shorter time frame.
Methane has a heat trapping potential that is 21 times stronger than CO2 (Haradhan, 2011)
(Mahasan, 2023).

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 Figure 4 Malaysia Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

Table 1 Malaysia Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

Malaysia Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions - Historical Data

Year kt of CO2 equivalent Annual % Change
2002 173,460.01 5.26%
2003 183,730.00 5.92%
2004 199,960.01 8.83%
2005 210,700.00 5.37%
2006 218,410.00 3.66%
2007 236,399.99 8.24%
2008 251,690.00 6.47%
2009 229,730.00 -8.73%
2010 250,390.00 8.99%
2011 253,770.00 1.35%
2012 258,370.00 1.81%
2013 277,890.01 7.56%
2014 292,799.99 5.37%
2015 293,609.99 0.28%
2016 293,679.99 0.02%
2017 285,390.01 -2.82%
2018 302,600.01 6.03%
2019 313,019.99 3.44%
2020 256,191.49 -18.15%

Based on (Error: Reference source not found) and (Error: Reference source not found), it
showed Malaysia's greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from 2002 to 2020. According to the

11
GHG emissions for 2019, they were 313,019.99 kt of (CO2), an increase of 3.44% from
2018. The major number stated is increase each year by year (Statista, 2023). One of the
causes of the increased number of greenhouse gases is solid waste. Look at figure, Almost
20% of solid waste contributes to the CO2 equation (Ibrahim, 2022), while the highest
percentage of solid waste is organic waste. So, we can agree that food waste is the serious
causes due to the global warming in Malaysia.

Figure 5 carbon Dioxide CO2 equation

Besides, the amount fossil oiled use in food production is also the processing of making food
is contributing to the global warming to occur. Food waste also results in the waste of all the
resources utilised in its production, such as fertilisers, irrigation, and fossil fuels for
equipment. Burning fossil fuels releases a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (Client
Earth, 2020). The energy expended in processing, packaging, and transportation also
becomes wasted energy. Waste food is produced and transported, which increases carbon
dioxide emissions and the rate of global warming.

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Moreover, Food waste is also contributing to biodiversity loss through its indirect impacts on
ecosystems and natural habitats. One major factor is the expansion of agricultural activities to
meet the demand for food that ultimately goes to waste. This expansion often leads to
deforestation, clearing of land, and conversion of natural ecosystems into agricultural land
(Haab & Obrecht, 2020). These actions result in the destruction of habitats for many plant
and animal species, leading to a loss of biodiversity and disruption of ecological balance.

Additionally, the excessive use of fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals in food
production, which is often associated with higher food waste, can contaminate waterways and
negatively impact aquatic ecosystems, further contributing to biodiversity loss. While
Malaysian is still consuming food waste. These all labour and effort are become waste.
Malaysian should be aware more about this problem.

3.0.2 Economic Impacts

Food waste has a substantial negative economic impact on many different economic sectors
worldwide. Food waste results in a huge loss of economic value since it requires more money
to produce, transport, and dispose of. Food waste in Malaysia is said to cost about RM225 per
month, according to the 2015 Solid Waste Corporation Management report. It amounts to
RM 2700 annually for a Malaysian household of five. Based on UNEP records, Malaysia
wastes food at a large rate every year, which is 8.3 million metric tonnes annually, equivalent
to 259.82kg of food (The Malaysian Reserve, 2023).

Also, food waste generates additional costs for businesses and governments, such as landfill
fees, waste management, and environmental damage. The unnecessary depletion of resources
such as water, land, energy, and fertilizers also incur economic losses, as these resources
could have been used for more productive purposes. By reducing food waste, Malaysia can
unlock significant economic benefits, such as cost savings, job creation, and increased
revenue for businesses.

3.0.3 Social Impacts

Every country in the world still faces the problem of hunger. According to the Index while
Malaysia ranks 58th out of the 121 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2022 GHI

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scores, Malaysia has a level of hunger that is moderate in 2020. This has kept increasing for
the last 8 years. Although people are still not aware and become unethical by throwing away
food when it is still in good quality and safe. The social effect of food loss is also quite high
since there may be fewer good food options accessible in the market, which drives consumers
to choose bad meals and leads to more health issues.

This impact of food waste may affect human and animal health. What is a health problem? A
health problem is an illness or injury that a person faces, such as a fever or cough. First, the
impact of food waste on human health How does food waste affect human health? The
improper disposal of food waste poses a more immediate threat to human health. For
example, methane gas released from greenhouses can cause health problems such as
coughing, illness, shortness of breath, vomiting, and fainting and can lead to death due to a
lack of oxygen. Discarding food on the street or in undesignated areas creates a breeding
ground for bacteria and can attract vermin and parasites that can spread viruses and diseases
(Muhammad, 2019).

Therefore, food waste can also lead to health problems for animals, such as infectious
diseases, fever, illness, and death. The first impact of food waste on animal health is wildlife
extinction (GRUNDIC, 2018). Studies have shown that the majority of food waste consists of
fruits and vegetables. Food waste attracts wildlife that can be harmed by rotting food. This
affects their numbers, reproductive behaviour, and predator-prey relationships. For example,
discarded food can attract wild animals such as bears, tigers, etc. because these animals have
a strong sense of smell and hearing. Thus, an increase in food waste can lead to an imbalance
in the animal food chain, which in turn can cause animals to become sick or die.

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3.0 Strategies to reduce food waste

Figure 6 Waste Disposed in 2002

Percentage of waste disposed in 2002

Other disposal 90
sites

Sanitary landfill 5

Inert landfill 0

Incineration 0

Composting 0

Recycling 5

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Percentage of waste disposed in 2002

Graph displays the percentage of waste disposed in 2002 in Malaysia. In 2002, there were six
treatments of waste disposed which is recycling, composting, incineration, inert landfill,
sanitary landfill, and other disposal sites. The highest percentage of waste disposed is 90%
which is for other disposal sites. Next, sanitary landfill and recycling is the same percentage
which is 5%. The others treatment of waste disposed not yet in use at the time.

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Figure 7 Waste Disposed in 2006

Percentage of waste disposed in 2006

Other disposal 59.4
sites

Sanitary landfill 30.9

Inert landfill 3.2

Incineration
0

Composting 1

Recycling 5.5

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Percentage of waste disposed in 2006

The graph displays the percentage of waste disposed in 2006 in Malaysia. In 2006, there were
six treatments of waste disposed which is recycling, composting, incineration, inert landfill,
sanitary landfill, and other disposal sites. The occurrence of the percentage decrease for other
disposal sites from 90% to 59.4%. Percentage for other types of treatment were increasing
except for incineration. It means our country has been exposed to more ways to dispose of
waste.

Percentage of waste disposed targeted in

2020
Other disposal sites 0

Sanitary landfill 44.1

Inert landfill 9.1

Incineration 16.8

Composting 8
Figure 8 Waste Disposed Targeted in 2020
Recycling 22 16

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Percentage of waste disposed target in 2020

Based on the data above, we can see the percentage of waste disposed targeted in 2020 where
sanitary landfill is by 44.1% and followed by inert landfill 9.1%. Next, incineration
percentage is 16.8%, composting 8% and recycling 22%. The most used method was sanitary
landfill and followed by incineration, recycling, inert landfill and composting is the least
method that was used. The reason why sanitary landfill is the most used method is because it
protects community health. It’s because it’s been built far away from people and covered to
prevent any insects and other disease-carrying animals from breeding on it.

There are several ways which are natural and non-natural way to reduce food waste. In
Malaysia, landfilling is currently the main method of disposing of waste (80% usage). This
method is anticipated to drop to 65% in 2020. Most of the landfills in our country are in poor
condition, and operated without proper protective measure such as lining systems, leachate
treatment and gas venting (Ismail & Manaf, 2013). Statistics show that there are 186 waste
disposal sites that are in operation, out of which only eight (8) are consider sanitary, while
many of the others are open dump sites (UPM, 2006). In addition, landfills cause a number of
environmental issues such leachate, groundwater contamination, the possible release of
harmful gases, and smell. Solid and organic waste together contribute to a sizable portion of
these issues. It's important to keep in mind that landfills create environmental issues such the
risk of groundwater contamination, the production of greenhouse gases, and the destruction
of arable land.

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Garbage management authorities in Malaysia have been taking initiatives to reduce trash
production, increase composting and recycling, and promote the use of alternative waste
treatment technologies to resolve these problems. Naturally, food waste can be recycled in
order to produce a smaller amount of waste by composting. It is a method to returning
organic material to the environment, so any food that was taken from plants will be put back
into the soil. Composting also prevents the production of methane gas and greenhouse gases
due to burning or dumping of garbage to landfills (Abdul Jalil, 2010).

Malaysian government has introduced various methods to reduce food waste problems such
as coordinating food waste initiatives by developing successful awareness strategies and
educational programmes. The campaign programmes will increase household awareness of
food waste reduction in Malaysia through the public awareness project. Unfortunately,
although significant funding from the Malaysian government, the waste control problem is
still no resolved.

There is a need to have some more aggressive campaign to deliver awareness to reduce food
wastes and the impacts on the environment. In terms of waste minimization at household
level shows that Malaysia’s household level of knowledge is not tandem with their attitude on
waste reduction, which derivatively low attitude towards the waste minimization behaviour
(Ali and Siong, 2016).

As generation Z we need to be responsible to reduce the problem of food waste. This can be
resolved through awareness education, but it will take plenty of time to get these attitudes to
change. This strategy was shown to decrease the ratio of waste disposal of both the food itself
and the food's packaging material by focusing on the high awareness amongst consumers in
their purchase of environmentally friendly food.

3.0.3 Recycle Food Waste with Composting

To reduce the problem of food waste, the Malaysian government is doing various things. The
Malaysian government has been actively involved in coordinating food waste initiatives for
the past five years. For example, developing successful awareness strategies in tandem with
educational programmed. This can reduce the problem of food waste disposal by households
and increase community awareness about this issue.

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Everyone should also try to reduce the problem of food waste. One of the most effective
ways to reduce food waste is to recycle food waste through composting. The effect can return
organic matter to nature. Basically, the food taken from the plant will be returned to the soil.
In addition, the burning or disposal of waste in landfills occurs due to the production of
methane gas and greenhouse gases, which are prevented by composting. According to
(Mohamed Zain & Abdul Rahman, 2021), one of the best methods to restore organic items to
nature is composting. However, there is a challenge associated with food composting, which
is providing a suitable area to collect food waste. The effect is to avoid unpleasant odors
during the waste collection process.

Besides that, the pineapple canning industry usually produces waste. This is because
pineapple is one of the main agricultural products that generates a high amount of food waste
in Malaysia. To produce biotenol by immobilising Baker's yeast, Sacchararomyces
cereviviae, by using liquid waste Apart from the production of biotenol, the growth medium
for Lactobacillus species can also occur from pineapple waste. The last one is that food waste
from the UTHM cafeteria is thermally treated and used for anaerobic digestion. This is a
method to manage food waste due to its high bio-methane potential.

19
CONCLUSION

Food waste has serious social and environmental implications, but many of us don’t think
twice about it. Almost every day, more than 50% of Malaysians waste food. Although that
wasting food is the same as wasting money and increasing the cost of managing food waste,
high standard of living makes people less aware of the environment. Therefore, the most
effective way to reduce waste is to implement the implementation of a food waste charging or
penalty system. Although the community believes that the best management is bio-
composting, but they throw a lot of food waste into the regular trash. The effects of food
waste and good management methods are understood by Malaysians. However, to reduce
food waste, less action is taken by everyone. Therefore, Malaysians have been introduced to
simple and easy composting such as Bokashi.

In the meantime, Malaysia needs to be smart in solving this food waste issue. Wasting food
waste adds to problems for the community as well as the country. However, this issue can be
reversed towards a more sustainable food system that can be implemented locally. Therefore,
individual behavior is very important in reducing food waste. In effect, for wider changes in
food production ecosystems, individuals need to reshape food waste at home. Therefore,
everyone needs to be responsible for reducing the problem of food waste that occurs in our
country. We need to keep our country clean so that it can indirectly attract tourist from
abroad. In addition, the people will always cooperate with this issue.

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RECOMMENDATION

Based on our research, we recommend that the government take every opportunity to reduce
food waste in Malaysia. One avenue the government can take is to enforce food waste laws.
For example, it is illegal by law to dispose of food near the beach to prevent animals from
contracting diseases.

In addition, the government can also campaign to maintain a healthy body. For example,
people can pay attention to maintaining their weight so that they do not become overweight,
suffer from endurance problems, or have an unhealthy body shape.

At the same time, the government can also conduct a campaign to plant food waste in the
ground. Why? First, it can prevent animals from smelling the food waste and maintain the
balance of the animal food chain. Third, infectious diseases such as cough or fever caused by
bacteria can be reduced by planting food waste in the soil.

In addition, the government can also reduce greenhouse gas activities so that less methane
gas is released and prevent people from inhaling methane gas, which can cause diseases.
Furthermore, we can also reduce food waste by fulfilling the duties of all parents.

For example, parents can educate their children to be independent and frugal. This can also
reduce food waste because the child has learned to be independent and frugal. For example,
the child can curb his appetite and buy only what he really needs. Also, parents can monitor
their children's diet so that they do not waste food. Also, parents can give advice to their
children so that they do not waste food.

Finally, we can reduce food waste by doing everyone's tasks. First, we can make a grocery
list before we buy food or kitchen items. In this way, we can prevent ourselves from buying
unnecessary things. At the same time, we can also see the expiration date before we buy
goods or food to avoid waste. Finally, we can organise the refrigerator properly and close the
box properly so that the food doesn't spoil.

21
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APPENDIX

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