Those celebrating the Syawal festivities in Malaysia must ensure that the perfectly good and fresh leftovers of the AidilFitri celebrations must not go to waste but instead they are advised to donate to the less fortunate.

Deputy prime minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi disclosed that, according to statistics, Malaysia disposes 8.3 million tonnes of food waste each year and it is factored that 24 percent is food that is still suitable for human consumption.

Waste management experts are appalled by this large volume of food going to waste and suggest limiting the use of single-use packaging and choosing recyclable alternatives such as glass or aluminium containers.

Other than this, these experts suggest that there should be a stress on the importance of separating waste into the various categories such as organic, recyclable and the general waste categories.

In the state of Negeri Sembilan, as an example, 28,993.94 tonnes of waste was sent to landfills operated by SWCorp during Syawal 2023, which increased to 32,413.96 tonnes last year, which is an increase of 11 percent.

SWCorp cautioned that there should be proper waste management measures put in place as during this Syawal festivities there is set to be another rise in waste disposal and the entity hopes to intensify operations in preventing wastage.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE