IMPLEMENTING FOOD WASTE RECYCLING FOR GREENER FOOD COURTS

Abstract

As part of the Singapore Green Plan 2012, there is a target to raise the rate of food waste recycling to 30% by 2012. Currently, this rate of recycling is only 12% and the target date is slowly drawing closer. Therefore, the focus of this dissertation is to try to increase the food waste recycling rate, to produce useful resources such as compost and energy, in Singapore through food courts. Food courts were chosen because the number of food courts across Singapore has increased steadily over the years and hence are an area that should not be overlooked. One key objective of this study was to firstly, obtain a better understanding of the state of food waste recycling in Singapore. Secondly, to create a framework for more effective implementation of food waste recycling in food courts and lastly, to provide recommendations for food waste recycling in the country to achieve the target of 30% by 2012. These objectives were fulfilled by conducting interviews with relevant industry players and carrying a real life case study where a food court operator, NTUC Foodfare, embarked on the process of implementing a food waste recycling programme in their food court in cooperation with IUT Global Pte Ltd, a waste management company. The findings were positive and showed that Singapore is slowly but surely putting in more effort into food waste recycling. However, there is still much that needs to be done. The problems cannot be solved simply by using legislation; there is also a need to change the attitudes of people towards environmental sustainability. In addition, the framework created can be used for not just food courts but other food outlets who wish to embark on food waste recycling.