Instep turns food wastes into fertiliser

To make matters worse, food waste left for days is at risk of inviting various contaminants and spreading diseases and infections.

Aspiring to safeguard the environment, Institute Teknologi Petroleum Petronas (Instep) in Batu Rakit took the initiative to launch Instep Composter House which converts food waste into compost using a composting machine leased from Mentari Alam Eko (M) Sdn Bhd.

Instep chief executive officer, Idris Ibrahim said the training centre for petroleum industry technicians and operators had been processing 30 to 40 kilogrammes (kg) of food waste into compost daily since the machine was acquired on Aug 13.

He added the compost manure produced can reduce the usage of chemical and organic fertilisers by 40 per cent for trees and plants around the campus area.

He said this can be reduced further to between 60 to 70 per cent if the machine is operated at maximum efficiency by processing 100 kg of food waste at one time to produce 20 kg of compost.

"Before this, every month, Instep used about 300 to 400 kg of chemical and organic fertiliser. Now, our compost manure can improve soil fertility and add more nutrients to the plants,” he added.

The use of the composting machine is in line with Petronas agenda for environmental sustainability and support Malaysia's commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Meanwhile, Instep’s General Administration, Facilities Management executive Muhamad Faisal Abdullah said before they had the machine, food waste collected from three food halls on the campus would be taken daily by locals to feed their livestock.

“However, since the implementation of the Movement Control Order last March, they have not been able to enter the campus and we have to throw away the food waste. From there we realised we need to put the food waste to good use.

“The machine decomposes food waste in the soil with the presence of air and heat and assisted by other equipment such as the crusher machine. We also use the traditional method to compost food waste as practised abroad. But it takes a long time about three to six months to become fertilisers,” said the compositing project head.

Meanwhile Qanaah Resources Sdn Bhd operations manager Hanif Othman said his company prepares up to 2,500 meals six times a day for the students and staff at the campus.

“From the six daily meals for 2,500 heads between 60 to 100 kg of food waste is generated which is divided into two categories namely unconsumed cooked food and raw materials and ingredients for cooking such as withered vegetables and fruit waste.

“Daily at 3pm my workers will collect this food waste and place them in the composting machine. This makes our dining and kitchen environment cleaner because no food scraps will be left lying around for long,” he said.