Household Purchase and Generation of Food Waste in Malaysia (Sri Serdang and Taman Connaught Cheras Kuala Lumpur)

Abstract

Food waste is a problem in developing countries which Malaysia is not exempted, it leads to loss of potential valuable food sources that can be recycled in other forms of energy, waste resources and generated emissions from the food supply chain and challenges associated with disposing organic waste to landfill. This study focused on examining food wastage profile at the household consumer stage in Malaysia. Data collected through questionnaires was given to 311 respondents at Serdang and Cheras area in Malaysia based their leftover food generation and food purchase. Independent sample t test suggest there is no significant difference in the response to not always having leftover food with Serdang (M=3.12, SD=1.19) and Cheras with a sample size of 157 (M=3.04, SD=1.31), t (309)=0.598, p=0.55 (two tailed). The magnitude of the difference in the means (mean difference=0.85, 95% confidence interval; -0.19 to 0.37 which was very small. there was a significant difference in the score for waste generated in ringgit between Serdang and Cheras Kuala lumpur (Serdang Mean=7.85, SD=3.09) and (cheras Mean=12.12, SD=5.09); t (257.98)=-4.77 with a mean difference of -2.27, 95% confidence interval of -3.208 to -1.333 which is very large. Wastage of food in Cheras area is more than in Serdang Correlation revealed that income, race, food purchase and type or number of house occupant had a positive correlation with the total amount of food waste. Curtailing food waste would increase sustainability and human health in Malaysia thus reducing the stress placed on municipal solid waste management.