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CONFERENCE PROCEEDING
Composting in Schools
Awatif Afrina Mohd Asrul1*, Aisya Alya Mohd Ghazaly2 , Datin Diani Mardiana Mat Zin3
123Kolej GENIUS Insan, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, 71800, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
Food waste is a significant problem in schools all over the world. Data shows that Kolej GENIUS Insan’s dining hall collected close to an average of 13 kg of food waste per day. Every year, KGI’s food waste will total up to a whopping 4.745 tons, about the weight of a truck. Lack of proper planning when buying and preparing foods are among factors that contribute to excessive food waste in schools. Based on previous studies, composting helps to reduce food waste and methane emissions that causes climate change. Composting is one of the methods to decompose organic solid wastes. There are three types of composting, namely vermicomposting, aerobic composting and fermentation. This study uses a bibliometric analysis to examine the result of past publications on composting in schools.
Keywords: composting; composting in schools; food waste; sustainability; zero waste
INTRODUCTION
Composting food waste in schools has become an uprising solution to combat excessive food waste. Such solutions are important because it is estimated that around 530,000 tonnes of food is wasted each year at school cafeterias, according to a new report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
There is a tonne of publicly available information about composting, thus the subject is not new. Despite how compelling a notion it is, composting has not yet reached its full potential in actual practise. Instead of being a source of nutrients for soil, large amounts of food waste and other organic materials that wind up in landfills (and garbage dumps) become a source of greenhouse gas emissions. The demand and supply idea does not appear to be working for the composting business yet, although looking reasonable in the large picture. The causes of this gap are less related to engineering or the sciences and more to social issues and policy.
MATERIALS AND METHODS/ METHODOLOGY
This study uses a bibliometrics analysis to examine the result of past publications on composting in schools. A quantitative research method (questionnaires and surveys) were used to collect data used for the subtopics below:
Understanding of the term “food waste”
Knowledge of food waste composting concept Intentions to reduce food waste
Awareness of the impact of the food waste issue Willingness to learn about the management of food waste
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Knowledge is a well-known cognitive factor (thinking ability) and a significant contributing factor to constructing a social structure and creating awareness (Azjein and Fishbein, 1980). Therefore, our study selected 95 high school students ranging from the age of 13 to 17 years old to explore their knowledge and awareness of food waste management. The majority of the respondents (68.4%) admitted that they understood the concept of food waste management
Table 1. Knowledge and Awareness of Food Waste Management.
13 years old 14 years old 15 years old 16 years old 17 years old
Yes (%)
No (%)
Yes (%)
No (%)
Yes (%)
No (%)
Yes (%)
No (%)
Yes (%)
No (%) Understanding of
the term “food waste”
100 0 100 0 100 0 98 2 100 0
Knowledge of food waste composting
concept
67 33 60 40 57 43 75 25 100 0
Intentions to reduce food waste
87 13 85 15 100 0 93 7 100 0
Awareness of the impact of the food
waste issue
93 7 80 20 31 69 85 15 100 0
Willingness to learn about the management of food waste
87 13 95 5 100 0 95 5 100 0
A structured interview was also conducted with KGI’s dining hall manager to understand food waste management challenges at KGI. The management of food waste at KGI was observed by the researchers. It is found that KGI’s dining hall collected close to 4.745 tons of food waste per year. Some of the respondents (31.6%) also agreed that they do not know the proper way to manage food waste. Furthermore, there is no specific school rule that can encourage them to manage food waste. However, the majority of the respondents (94.7%) is willing to learn about the management of food waste. Thus, teaching them about composting systems and the various ways of composting can help reduce the disposal of food waste into the landfill.
CONCLUSION
According to this study, the majority of students and teachers are aware of food waste but are ill-equipped to manage it. Schools should therefore take the required steps to enhance the management of food waste by teaching the school community about food waste issues and raising awareness of the effects on the environment, society, and economy. On the basis of the findings, the following suggestions are made for the implementation of sustainable food waste management at the school level:
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1. The management of the canteen and the school should provide effective infrastructure and facilities, such as waste bins that are both appealing and appropriate for storing waste. By doing so, the community may efficiently implement trash segregation and encourage favorable attitudes toward sustainable waste management.
2. The school community may demonstrate commitment by taking part in programs and campaigns that promote eco-friendly behaviors including reducing, reusing, recycling, and composting. As a result, the school community can gain more practical or hands-on knowledge about effective waste management practices.
3. Programs for composting and recycling food waste should be established by school administration as part of the curriculum. As a result, the school community can more effectively monitor the separation of garbage (mainly food waste).
Programs for recycling can be put into place through extracurricular activities or courses, where students are urged to expand their creativity by coming up with a variety of ideas using recycled materials.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We thank Datin Diani Mardiana for her guidance in writing this research paper. We thank Benitta Gingerella, Hiroshan Hettiarachchi, Serena Caucci and Kai Schwärzel for providing information and valuable discussion about composting. We thank everyone that participated in the surveys and questionnaires. Lastly, we thank anyone who made writing this extended abstract possible.
REFERENCES
Kasavan, S., Ali, N. I. M., & Masarudin, N. A. (2020). Quantification of solid waste in school canteens- A case study from a Hulu Selangor Municipality, Selangor. Planning Malaysia, 18.
Hashim, A. A., Kadir, A. A., Ibrahim, M. H., Halim, S., Sarani, N. A., Hassan, M. I. H., ... & Hissham, N. F. N. (2021, May). Overview on food waste management and composting practice in Malaysia. In AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 2339, No. 1, p. 020181). AIP Publishing LLC.
Hettiarachchi, H., Caucci, S., & Schwärzel, K. (2020). Organic waste composting through nexus thinking: practices, policies, and trends (p. 232). Springer Nature.
Gingerella, B. (2019, December 10). Schools produce 530,000 tons of food waste annually, new study estimates. FoodService Director. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://www.foodservicedirector.com/operations/schools-produce-530000-tons-food-waste- annually-new-study-estimates
Cambridge Dictionary | English Dictionary, Translations & Thesaurus. (2022, October 12). Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org
