Food Waste and Carbon Footprint Assessment of Eateries in Kelantan, Malaysia

Introduction: Food service establishments in Malaysia have grown positively in response to the rising demand for dining out and takeaway food. However, they also exert a high demand for energy resources and contribute to negative environmental impacts. In this study, an environmental assessment of food waste generation was carried out alongside carbon footprint quantification across electricity and water consumption in two different food service establishments with a focus on cafeterias and casual dining restaurants. Methods: Ten food premises with the same criteria in service were selected, consisting of cafeterias and Thai food restaurants located in Kelantan state of Malaysia. Food waste from preparation losses, serving losses and plate waste were collected and measured for a 7-day period to establish respective quantities. Material Flow Analysis (MFA) was used to visualize the material flow from the operation of both the cafeterias and Thai food restaurants while carbon footprint analysis was undertaken to calculate carbon emissions. Results: The findings revealed consistent results for both the cafeterias and Thai food restaurants as higher proportions of food waste arose from customer plate waste (67.99% and 62.12%) rather than preparation losses (32.01% and 37.88%). It was identified that cafeterias contribute larger volumes of carbon emissions for both electricity (105.93 kgCO2e) and water related consumption (8.39 kgCO2e) compared to Thai food restaurants (57.58 kgCO2e and 3.63 kgCO2e). Conclusion: These findings may provide guidance for the food service management to recognize the priority areas of improvement in reducing environmental impact associated food service sector.