Organic Waste Recycling: Sustainable waste management

From the birth of the industrial revolution in the 18^thcentury, rapid industrialization and economy progress mark the onset of the dramatic change in the socio-economic, cultural and lifestyle of mankind. Advance communication technology pushes the creation of a global village where instantaneous information flows freely around the unifying communities. Globalization further increases the integration of national communication and trade into international platform; hence render the international business almost virtually borderless. In benchmarking a country development level, economy growth is the primary criteria used. Further development brings along a new lifestyle where high social securities, convenience and mobility are the norm. In high-income developed countries, where the stated lifestyle is being practiced, an individual utilize resources more than what is required or in another word, the energy or resources consumed per capita is much higher than a middle- income developing country. Hence, the waste generated per capita is directly proportional with the GDP per capita.

This situation has caused developed country to spend huge amount of funds to improvise the utilization of resources and waste management with the most feasible and efficient approach as it is impossible to change the consumption pattern of a developed country. This is a situation where sustainable development is not practiced by the developed nations. Hence, developed countries introduce policies to decouple the country’s economy growth together with resource utilization and waste generation.

If a developing country develops in a sustainable pattern, decoupling may not be necessary when the country reach high income status. However, practicing sustainable development is not an easy task as developing countries face hinder such as policy conflicts, technology selection, financial constraint, lack of expertise, etc. Therefore, to achieve a sustainable development, the most feasible and viable solution is always preferred.

However, multi disciplinary instruments are always required to achieve a viable solution. They include financial, technical, legal, managerial and policy aspects.

Sustainable waste management is an essential part of a country sustainable development especially in urban area. As urbanization occurs at a rapid rate, waste management is a crucial environmental issue. Worldwide, waste management sector made up of about 20% of the global total GHG emission (particularly on methane gas) according to various sources. Hence, sustainable waste management is an important step in alleviating climate change effect.

Locally, the waste management in Malaysia is not sustainable at all. Almost all of our waste (95%) goes to landfills currently with a recycling rate of less than 5%. Worse still, out of the existing 176 landfills, only 7 are considered as a sanitary landfill.

The generation of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) currently stands at 25000 MT (metric ton) per day. MSW refers to domestic waste that originates from residential, commercial and institutional areas. The majority of the composition of our country MSW is the organic fraction such as food waste, yard waste (green waste) and wooden bulky waste. Together, these organic wastes made up of 60-70 % of the total weight of MSW.

Organic waste especially food waste causes many problems in the entire waste management and disposal process. The collection of MSW by the waste collection vehicle causes leachate due to the high moisture content in the food waste .Besides, the spillage of food waste cause unbearable smell and attract vermin. When the food waste is sent to an unsanitary landfill or open dump, the leachate produced contaminate the surrounding waterbodies such as groundwater and river. The generation of GHG such as methane gas and carbon dioxide is totally attributed to organic waste especially the rapidly decomposable fraction which is the food waste.

In Europe, under the EU Waste Legislation Framework, the EU Landfill Directive was introduced in 1999 to tackle these concerns. It obliges member states to progressively reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) which is landfilled. It sets reduction targets for three target years:

- First target year, 2009/10 – reduce landfilling of BMW to 75 % of 1995 levels

- Second target year, 2012/13 – reduce landfilling of BMW to 50 % of 1995 levels

- Final target year, 2019/20 – reduce landfilling of BMW to 35 % of 1995 levels

The government of member states may receive fines from the EU for missing these targets. The directive aims “to prevent or reduce as far as possible negative effects on the environment, in particular the pollution of surface water, groundwater, soil and air; and on the global environment, including the greenhouse effect, as well as any resulting risk to human health, from the landfilling of waste, during the whole lifecycle of the landfill”.

In a nutshell, we are running an “Organic Waste Diversion” project in our university campus. An Integrated Organic Waste Management System” is introduced under the project. Two Schemes namely Green Bag Scheme and Wood and Yard Waste Scheme are implemented to ensure the effectiveness of the stated management system. This project is a showcase of a sustainable waste management in a developing country utilizing policy and market-based instruments, economy of scale and an effective waste handling and collection system.