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Food Waste

Singapore generates more than 800,000 tons of food waste every year and this trend continues to grow.

 

Food waste accounts for about 10 per cent of the total waste generated in Singapore, but only 13 per cent of the food waste is recycled. The rest of the food waste is sent for incineration. 

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The amount of food waste generated in Singapore has increased by almost 50 per cent in the past 10 years and is expected to increase with the growing population and economic activity.

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Food waste has to be managed carefully. Recyclable objects will be contaminated by food waste when they are mixed together, thus compromising recycling efforts. Food waste also causes odor nuisances and vermin proliferation if it is not properly managed.

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There is a need for a comprehensive strategy to manage food waste in a holistic manner.

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Food Waste Management Strategies

(Adapted from NEA's recommendations)

Strategy 1: Prevent and reduce food waste at source

The most direct way to reduce food waste, albeit the most difficult to implement, is to avoid wasting food at the onset. Extra efforts are required to calculate the required food quantity in order to avoid over-purchase. Careful meal planning and food storage are also necessary to ensure maximum consumption of the food purchased and to lengthen the freshness of food and avoid premature expiry.

 

Strategy 2: Redistribute unsold / excess food

Unsold and excess food can be considered for redistribution instead of disposal. For example, supermarket and food establishments could donate their unsold and excess food to food distribution organizations.

 

Strategy 3: Recycle food waste​

Food waste which cannot be avoided after going through strategies 1 and 2 should be recycled as far as possible.

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Currently, food waste that is recycled is mainly homogenous food waste from food manufacturers, such as spent yeast/grains from beer brewing, soya bean, and bread waste. These are segregated at source and sold to recyclers for conversion into animal feed.

Strategy 4: Repurpose food waste

The next best approach will be to repurpose the food waste if it can't be recycled. This means to transform the food waste into another form where it can be useful. For example, food waste can go through a composter to become compost for plants or it could go through Anaerobic Digestion to produce biogas for various thermal applications.

 

Food waste can also go through MURSUN's gasification systems to produce thermal energy, electricity and/or even hydrogen for utilities. The residue is in the form of biochar which is stable, solid, rich in carbon, and can endure in soil for thousands of years. Biochar can be mixed with fertilizer to enhance the growth of plants.

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© 2017 by Mursun Pte. Ltd.

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