Maximizing the use of organic waste from food businesses : looking beyond its face value

Abstract

One of the biggest challenges which the world currently faces is that of excess Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), which if not managed effectively could cause a threat to the environment, public health and also contributes to a reduction in quality of life. A large portion of this MSW is made up of organic waste which could have either been consumed or repurposed instead of being sent to landfill contributing to a greener environment. In order to do this, the problem needs to be tackled from its roots, which in this case would be the person/persons throwing away the organic waste. However, without a present system which collects and repurposes this organic waste, separating organic waste will all be done in vain. Since a large percentage of Malta’s total waste comes from the Hospitality and Food Service (HaFS) sector, in fact adding up to 80% (Wasteserv, 2017), it is important to have a system which targets and educates those working in the HaFS sector in order to separate organic waste efficiently, which eventually would result in the collection of high quality organic waste separately.