Asia News Network
PETALING JAYA – A new law is being cooked up to tackle food wastage in Malaysia, with the possibility of strict measures like penalties being introduced to curb the bad habit.
But currently, the proposed Act will focus on education and awareness to reduce food waste, says the Housing and Local Government Ministry.
It said the government was in the midst of preparing the proposed Circular Economy Act for solid waste – of which, food waste was the top component at 44.5%.
“For now, the focus is on education and awareness, though stricter measures may be considered in the future.
“We are learning from international best practices, such as food donation laws and structured waste separation systems,” the ministry told The Star.
With World Food Day today (Oct 16), it’s a timely effort – especially when each Malaysian discards a staggering 81kg of food a year, according to a 2024 report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
It’s a drop from the 91kg of food waste generated by each Malaysian in 2021, based on the UNEP’s Food Waste Index.
But despite the 10kg reduction, consumer groups and non-governmental organisations say the numbers are still unacceptable, and welcome the new Act by the government to cut food wastage.
Food businesses including restaurants, retailers and supermarkets hope the government will engage with them before introducing the proposed law, saying that incentives should take priority over penalties.
Mountains of wasted food
It doesn’t help that about 24% of the food waste produced by Malaysians is still edible, according to the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp).
This means about 4,080 tonnes or 4.08 million kg of good food goes to waste every day, based on news reports.
Recently, Malaysia was also ranked fourth in South East Asia with the biggest amount of food waste in 2024.
Laos was at the top spot at 89kg per capita a year, followed by Thailand (86kg) and Cambodia (85kg).
Here’s how Asean countries fared when it comes to food wastage:
On Malaysia’s food waste going down by 10kg since 2021, Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) president Mohideen Abdul Kader said it showed measurable progress but the current 81kg per person remains “unjustifiable”.
“Malaysians still habitually discard edible food, especially in social, retail, and household settings.
“For example, at weddings and large events, oversized portions and buffet leftovers frequently result in large volumes of edible food being thrown away.
“In some households, over-purchasing and expired food contributes to food waste,” he said.
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) chief executive officer Dr Saravanan Thambirajah said much of the 81kg of food waste is still edible.
“SWCorp’s research shows that around 70% of households do not finish the meals they cook.
“About 48% buy or prepare too much food, and 44% end up discarding it due to poor storage or lack of planning,” he said.
The ministry said the significant amount of food waste is mainly due to lifestyle and urbanisation where food can be conveniently accessed and is in abundance.
“Festive or cultural practices can also encourage preparing more food than needed,” the ministry said.
Food Bank Malaysia, a non profit organisation which rescues edible surplus food and delivers it to those in need, has generally shown an increase of food collected.
“It is due to better efficiency in rescue efforts, but also shows a persistent and growing problem of food surplus,” said its president Mohd Azrul Mohd Razak.
He said the top types of food most commonly discarded are fresh produce like fruits and vegetables, bread, dairy products, dry goods and catering leftovers.
In the world, Malaysia was ranked 163 among the total 233 countries and territories listed in the UNEP’s Food Waste Index Report 2024.
Maldives was the country with the biggest estimated amount of household food wastage last year – generating 207kg per capita in a year.
In second place was Seychelles (183kg), followed by Tunisia (172kg).
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