KUALA TERENGGANU: With food aplenty during Ramadan, Terengganu is having its hands full with clearing 815 tonnes of food waste daily throughout the state since the fasting month began.
Revealing this whopping figure, Solid Waste and Public Cleanliness Management Corporation (SWCorp) director Hazahar Hashim said the amount was an increase of 20 per cent, or 660 tonnes, from regular days.
“The increased food waste clearing also increases the cost of the disposal operation.
“Fortunately, there has been a five per cent reduction in food waste collection for the first two weeks of Ramadan this year, compared to last year.
“This could be owing to the reduced expenditure on purchasing food, being more prudent and also the awarness on reducing wastage created by the authorities," said Hazahar.
He called on consumers to exercise greater care when preparing or purchasing meals so as to minimise wastage which could have an effect on environmental cleanliness, increase pollution and add to the high cost of waste disposal.
“Too much waste disposal, either naturally or via incinerators, will have a greenhouse effect, too. Therefore, we must be wary not to just dump food,” he said after presenting contributions to 25 needy families at Kampung Tok Nasek.
Hazahar also warned that three of the seven waste disposal sites in the state were at critical stage with overflowing garbage, which is environmentally hazardous.