Final Research Proposal: Food Waste and Management in Johor, Malaysia

This research proposal examines food waste and its management in Johor, Malaysia. It begins by defining food wastage and its global and local contexts, highlighting the various stages of food production, processing, and consumption where waste occurs. The proposal investigates the current scenario of food wastage in Malaysia, including the amount of waste generated and the existing management practices. It also aims to analyze the tools used for food waste management, such as recycling, composting, and other waste treatment methods, and to identify gaps in the current techniques. The research questions address the present scenario of food wastage, the tools utilized for waste management, and the gaps in current techniques. The proposal includes a literature review, methodology, proposed timeline, and expected results, providing a comprehensive plan to investigate the issue of food waste and propose effective management strategies within the context of Johor.

Running head: FOOD WASTE AND MANAGEMENT IN JOHOR
Final Research Proposal
FOOD WASTE MANAGEMENT IN JOHOR
Students Name: Wai Kian Soon
Student ID: M17040011
Program: MBA3305 Business Research Methods

FOOD WASTE AND MANAGEMENT IN JOHOR 1
Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Background.................................................................................................................................3
1.2 Problem statement.......................................................................................................................4
1.3 Research aim and objectives.......................................................................................................5
1.4 Research Questions.....................................................................................................................5
2. Literature review..........................................................................................................................6
2.1 Concept of food wastage in the entire world and Malaysia........................................................6
2.2 Concept of food management using various tools......................................................................8
3. Methodology..............................................................................................................................13
3.1 Research Design........................................................................................................................13
3.2 Data collection...........................................................................................................................13
3.3 Sample size and population.......................................................................................................13
3.4 Data analysis..............................................................................................................................13
3.5 Ethical concerns in research......................................................................................................14
3.6 Limitations of the study.............................................................................................................15
Proposed timeline............................................................................................................................15
4. Expected result...........................................................................................................................16
References...........................................................................................................................................17
Appendices..........................................................................................................................................19
Appendix 1......................................................................................................................................19
Appendix 2......................................................................................................................................21

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FOOD WASTE AND MANAGEMENT IN JOHOR 3
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Food wastage refers to the loss of food that happens due to food is not eaten and it is
discarded and various other reasons (Balaji & Arshinder, 2016). Food gets wasted at different
stages of the food production, in the processing stage, retailing stage and other stages. Globally
about one third of the food produced throughout the world gets wasted. It occurs in the supply
chain process. The main aim of the paper is to highlight the food wastage through the world and
the same in Malaysia and also discuss about the food waste management tools for the purpose of
reusing and reducing the waste.
Various researches have been done in the same field. A recent research has been dine that
discusses about food waste and management in Malaysia by Yiing Chiee Moh in order to
understand the current practices for managing waste of food material in Malaysia and
transformation of food wastage and the impacts of the same in future (Dou et al., 2016).
However, these reaches have failed to carry out proper waste management systems.

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Figure 1: causes of food wastage
Source: (Balaji & Arshinder, 2016)
The above diagram discusses about various wastages of food at different stages. Initially during the
production stage, harvested crops, spoiled crops, pests, disease and infection have been main issues with
food wastages. During processing and distribution, damaged products, overproduction and trimming
have been main issue with food wastages. In the third stage of retailing, overstocking and expiring dates
have been main issues. Due to overstocking, food get wastes by keeping in warehouses. The main work
of all the private consortiums was to reduce the problems of the local authorities related to solid waste
management (Minten et al., 2016). These problems included illegal dumping, lack of disposal sites for
proper disposal. There has been a continuous increase in the solid municipal waste and this has various
activities in part of the government to create awareness for the same. The methods that are used for
proper treatment of waste is- recycling, incineration, inserting landfills, composting, sanitary landfill
and creation of other disposal sites for treating the municipal waste. The national policy on municipal
solid waste management initiated by the government of Malaysia helps in properly treating the waste.
There are various post harvesting methods for precooling of fruits and vegetables includes maintaining
the quality of the fruits and vegetables by preventing them from ripening and other forms of damages.
These methods help in removing the heat of fields from the crops and improving its longevity. Some of
the major methods of pre-cooling include- hydro cooling, room cooling, vacuum cooling and others.

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Vacuum cooling helps in reducing the pressure of the atmosphere in chambers that are artificially
regulated. In this process the cooling effect in the environment takes place by reducing the atmospheric
pressure. Lastly, food wastages are done in the home due to bulk purchasing of food and unable to
consume, oversized portions and poor planning have been main reason for food wastages. The food
wastage also differs country wise such as in the highly developed nations three food wastage occurs at
the consumption stage because food is wasted by people while consumption. On the other hand in case
of underdeveloped nations the loss happens due to problems with the production process. However
there are different ways in which the waste of food material can be stopped and controlled. Some of the
major causes of food wastage is food production such as wastage of the crops due to pests, diseases and
others, it occurs due to distribution and processing such as in case of overproduction and many other
reasons.
1.2 Problem statement
The main purpose of this research is to highlight the waste of food material globally and
in Malaysia and the management of the same using various techniques that are used in Malaysia.

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1.3 Research aim and objectives
The paper aims at providing the various methods for treating waste of food material
properly and also to highlight the present scenario of food wastage throughout the world and in
Malaysia.
The objectives are:
1.) To analyze the present scenario of food wastage globally and in Malaysia.
2.) To examine the various tools used to carry out waste management of food material.
3.) To identify the gaps in the present waste management techniques used.
1.4 Research Questions
The research questions are as follows:
 What is the present scenario of food wastages in Malaysia and globally?
 What are various tools utilized for carrying out waste management of food material?
 What are gaps in the current waste management techniques utilized?

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2. Literature review
2.1 Concept of food wastage in the entire world and Malaysia
Food wastage is a major issue in the present day because it has serious impact on the
environment such as for waste disposal, various fillings is done in the land that causes land
pollution and degradation. Food wastage can occur due to various reasons and at various stages
of the foods production, processing and distribution process.
Figure 2: global food wastage Source: (Bernstad, Cánovas & Valle, 2017)

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Wastage of food is a major issue in developed countries such as in US the food wastage is
equal to 188kg per capita. About 33% of the food is wasted in south east Asia and the scenario is
expected to rise due to continuously increasing population (Sun et al., 2018). Food wastage will
have serious impacts in not only environment but also the individual because the food wastage
has an impact on the availability of food and further leads to further issues such as starvation and
malnutrition. Food wastage does not only have a social impact, environmental and economic
impact but it also causes various ethical issues (Bernstad, Cánovas & Valle, 2017). In Malaysia
the food waste is considered a part of the municipal solid waste. According to the statistics of
municipal solid waste the food wastage in Malaysia was about 15000 tons out of which
3000tonnesc was fit for consumption and could be consumed but was still discarded. It was also
found in a study that the household sector also was wasting their food resources in the process of
preparation, cooking and other stages (Yildirim et al., 2016).
The production of the solid waste is about 30000 tons for the country and will even cross
that by 2020. The waste production in Malaysia is dominated by the solid municipal corporation
waste, then by the industrial, construction and commercial wastes. The municipal solid waste in
Malaysia consists of 50% of food waste and about 70% of that waste of discarded in the landfills
thereby degrading the quality of land. However, the Malaysian government looks after proper
waste management in order to improve the efficiency of the same and as a result the area of
waste management has been given to private consortiums. This was done in the year 1993 with
the objective of having a proper system of waste management for the purpose of effectively and
efficiently managing the waste (Scholz, Eriksson & Strid, 2015). The bill for Solid waste and
public cleansing management was passed in the year 2007 (Grandhi & Appaiah Singh, 2016).
Various other programs were taken part into by the Malaysian agricultural research and
development institute (MARDI) and ministry of agriculture and agro based industry. The volume

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of production is increasing in most of the developed countries die to which there is wastage of
food. Food is wasted globally from the stage of production to the stage consumption.
In the countries where the per capita income is higher such as in Europe and America the
wastage is higher that is equal to 280kgs approx. the per capita loss of food is higher in Europe
and in America as compared to the south East Asia (Thaib et al., 2018). In the developing
countries most of the food is wasted after the harvesting period and in case of industrialized
countries the losses of food occurs at the consumer levels. In case of countries with low income
the demand for rice is higher and it is higher in populated regions of these countries. However
most of the losses occur in the harvesting stage and the stage of agricultural production and as
compared to the distribution and the consumption stages. In case of country where the per capita
income is medium to high level the main crop that is demanded is cereal and therefore the
countries face food loss in the stage of consumption. In case of the vegetables and the fruits
group of commodity, agricultural loses in the production occurs mostly in the industrialized
regions. Therefore it is clear from the above mentioned facts that the waste of the food is higher
in countries where the per capita income is medium to higher. In case of the industrialized
countries the wastage takes place when the production exceeds the demand. Inn case of average
conditions also the farmers sometimes end up predicting more than the quantity required because
of the fear of loss of crops due to any natural calamities.
In order to avoid this it is necessary to have proper communication between all the farmers as
that will help to reduce the over production. Food is also lost due in the developing countries due
to premature harvesting. In Malaysia it has become difficult to properly manage the waste and
moreover the untreated waste is having serious impact on the environment (Aschemann- Witzel
et al., 2015). One of the major issues is that it is not separated from the municipal waste and as a
result it is treated in the same way as others and this has led to production of greenhouse gases in
disposal sites where these wastes are disposed (Betz et al., 2016). It has been reported by many
studies that because of the disposal of these wastes in the landfills there is formation of
greenhouse gases. Therefore the country requires a proper waste management system in order to
treat the waste properly.
2.2 Concept of food management using various tools
In order to avoid the overproduction the farmers should produce different crops during
different months. They should divide their production equally throughout the different months for

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instance they should try to produce different crops. The farmers can engage in production
through greenhouse farming technique because it improves the productivity and the yield of the
land. Greenhouse farming can help in increasing the growing season as compared to the open
field technique. Green house structure has a better control over the plants growth in these
structures. In fact the greenhouse helps in maintaining various factors related to the plant growth
that help in properly growing the plants such as the temperature, light, fertilizer usage and others.
Green houses help in growing special vegetables, fruits and others. Various vegetables and fruits
can be grown well and less disease attacked compared to the open field. The controlled
environment has a good impact on the productivity over the food crops even it helps to control
the pests and diseases. The greenhouse structure also helps in growing leafy crops.
Leafy crops such as the amaranth, kangkong, kale and pak choy can be properly produced in
the greenhouse within the rainy season. Therefore, the farmers of Malaysia can use greenhouse
planting techniques to avoid fruits and vegetables waste in a particular season and with the help
of greenhouse crops can be grown through the year evenly. There are various post harvesting
methods for precooling of fruits and vegetables includes maintaining the quality of the fruits and
vegetables by preventing them from ripening and other forms of damages. These methods help in
removing the heat of fields from the crops and improving its longevity. Some of the major
methods of pre-cooling include- hydro cooling, room cooling, vacuum cooling and others.
Vacuum cooling helps in reducing the pressure of the atmosphere in chambers that are artificially
regulated. In this process the cooling effect in the environment takes place by reducing the
atmospheric pressure. The vacuum cooling helps in cooling a few vegetable crops easily by field
packing them because it is difficult to cool those crops with water and other sources. These crops
are basically the leafy vegetables such as lettuce.
The conventional methods of precooling for fruits and vegetables include air cooling
technique. This technique makes use of refrigerated air in the traditional room of cold storage, or
a special room of pre-cooling, cooler of forced air and others. In case of the room cooling
technique the produce is kept safely in the storage room with refrigerated air. The main
advantage is that it can be an efficient method if it can be designed properly. In case of forced
cooling of air technique, a fan will be used in the refrigerated room to pass the air through the
produce. By making use of the fan the cooling of the crops is increased as compared to any
techniques. This technique is best suitable for vegetable planation and fruits.

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Figure 3: comparison of the vacuum cooling with other methods of precooling
Source: (Minten et al., 2016)
Figure 4: vacuum cooling of vegetables and fruits
Source: (Thaib et al., 2018)
Climate change is becoming a major concern these days because of the greenhouse gases.
In order to improve the conditions it has become important to mitigate the same. In order to do
the same various methods have been developed one such method is using the catalyzed oil of
wasted vegetables. This will be used to bind the roofing tiles production as against the
conventional