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Change practices to reduce food waste, urges Masagos

SINGAPORE — In calling food waste one of the biggest streams of waste here, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli said all stakeholders have a role to play in managing this.

SINGAPORE — In calling food waste one of the biggest streams of waste here, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli said all stakeholders have a role to play in managing this.

Some practices such as the culture of excess at banquets must change, “without totally changing the way we live as a community in Singapore”, he told reporters after the SGfuture dialogue “Moving Towards a Zero Waste Nation: Food Waste” led by his ministry today (Jan 10).

Reducing food waste is a way for households to save money, and Singaporeans should not take the amount of food available here for granted, he added.

Food waste has gone up by about 50 per cent in the past decade, and nearly 790,000 tonnes were generated in 2014, equivalent to two bowls of food per person per day.

Zero-waste champion Eugene Tay said the Government could study measures such as stopping supermarkets, distributors and retailers from throwing away unused food, and incentivise food donations.

Businesses could allow consumers to choose their meal portions and take away leftovers, as well as accept imperfect food and donate unsold food. Individuals could learn more about composting, said Mr Tay, founder of ZeroWasteSG.

Mr Masagos expressed interest in trying some ideas from the dialogue in Tampines, where he is a Member of Parliament — such as the use of food waste by the town council for compost.

The 33 dialogue participants, who included hotel representatives, youths and environmental groups, noted challenges in redistributing food. Event organisers might know that a certain amount of food would be left over only at the last minute, for instance.

Mr Tay said he is working with some National University of Singapore students to launch an app this year that will alert students of excess food at various club or staff events. The students could then help to finish the food.

Businesses with good practices could be the subject of case studies and have their practices highlighted, participants suggested.

Siliso Beach Resort managing director Kelvin Ng estimated that his company has reduced food waste by about 40 per cent through several measures, such as by offering lunch and dinner a la carte instead of having a buffet. The resort uses earthworms for food composting, which helps fertilise the resort’s vegetable garden.

It also offers help and provides worms for schools that want to start wormeries, said Mr Ng, who learnt about earthworms and composting when he was a teenager studying in Perth.

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