KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — Nearly 40 per cent of the 40,000 metric tonnes of solid waste generated in the country daily consists of food waste, according to Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming.

He said efforts to address the waste issue require the cooperation of all parties through a “whole-of-nation approach” involving both businesses and consumers to collectively change their attitudes and practices.

“This is a form of waste. Food waste is not a crime, but it is a sin. It is a grave sin when edible food is simply thrown away,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Nga said this when replying to a question from Datuk Mumtaz Md Nawi (PN-Tumpat) regarding the latest developments in efforts to reduce waste sent to landfills and increase recycling rates.

Meanwhile, he expressed confidence that the ministry would achieve its target of exceeding a 40 per cent recycling rate by the end of this year.

Nga noted that under the “Trash to Cash” recycling programme, the total collection of recyclable materials between January and August exceeded 7.86 million kilogrammes (kg), with a sales value of over RM2.85 million.

“Secondly, the zero-waste community initiative involving the establishment of 17 active zero-waste community centres during the same period has collected over 111,504 kg of recyclable materials,” he said.

Additionally, Nga said a school-based recycling competition involving 1,680 schools successfully collected 4.95 million kilogrammes of recyclable materials, which were sold for RM2.98 million.

“Based on calculations of the total collected from 2018 to last year, we managed to gather nearly 20 million kilogrammes of recyclable items, generating proceeds exceeding RM10.22 million,” he said.

Responding to a supplementary question from Mumtaz regarding the specific controls and enforcement actions implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government concerning cable theft, including penalties imposed on third parties or buyers, he said the Cabinet views the issue seriously.

“We constantly collaborate and engage with the Ministry of Home Affairs, including examining the need to amend relevant laws to ensure harsher penalties are imposed on cable theft offenders in the country.

“There have been several instances where LRT (Light Rail Transit) operations were disrupted due to cable theft by syndicates; therefore, this matter (amending laws for heavier penalties) is crucial to ensuring we continue to safeguard public safety and the well-being of the people,” he said. — Bernama