Composting to cut food waste in Singapore and how the community, restaurants, even hotels are working together to fix the problem

A rising composting movement in Singapore is addressing a longstanding problem in the food-obsessed city state that recycles only 17 per cent of food waste

Singapore unveiled its Zero Waste Masterplan last year, which will see large malls, hotels and caterers forced to segregate food waste starting in 2024

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Pui Cuifen turns food waste into compost in Singapore. In 2018, the city state produced 763,000 tonnes of food waste, of which only 17 per cent was recycled. Photo: Toh Ee Ming

Published: 7:15am, 22 Oct 2020Updated: 3:12pm, 22 Oct 2020

It’s a Tuesday morning and Pui Cuifen is on a mission at the Yuhua Village Market and Food Centre in Jurong East, western Singapore. She plans to pick up several tubs full of used coffee grounds set aside by Daniel Yan, manager of Han N Han Peanut Pancake.

It’s an arrangement they’ve had since January – Pui and a small group of other compost-makers take turns to collect used coffee grounds to add to compost at community-supported gardens in nearby towns. In return, they take friends and family to enjoy peanut pancakes, and bring along plants and vegetables to share with Yan.

Pui is one of a legion of zero-waste warriors who have turned to composting. Composting speeds up the decomposition of organic material such as leaves and vegetable scraps by providing ideal conditions for microorganisms to thrive, in turn creating nutrient-rich material for growing plants.

Food waste has long been a problem in food-obsessed Singapore. In 2018, the city state produced 763,000 tonnes of food waste. According to official statistics, only 17 per cent of that was recycled.

Pui Cuifen picks up tubs of used coffee grinds at the Yuhua Village Market and Food Centre for composting. Photo: Toh Ee Ming

Over the last few years, the country has become more aware of the problem and there is an increased willingness to reduce food waste. A 2019 survey commissioned by the National Environment Agency asked 1,000 Singapore residents about food waste and found the public’s shopping, cooking, eating and catering habits had become more environmentally conscious. “Interestingly, some households [3 per cent] are composting their food waste,” the survey concluded.

Last year, Singapore unveiled its inaugural Zero Waste Masterplan, which will see large malls, hotels and caterers forced to segregate food waste starting in 2024. The waste can be treated and converted for other uses, such as animal feed or compost for landscaping.