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Fifty per cent of the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rubbish being dumped into the Askar landfill annually is food waste, it has emerged.
Around 250,000 tonnes of leftovers are thrown out annually, making Bahrain the top Arab country in food wastage and the fourth in the world, according to a United Nations Environment Programme 2021 study.
Details were highlighted during a remotely held ‘Environmental Ramadan Majlis’ organised by the Northern Municipality in collaboration with the Northern Municipal Council.
“During the holy month of Ramadan, the purchasing and consumption of food shoots up as people over-buy in large quantities and store the food at home which is unnecessary and wrong,” said Arabian Gulf University (AGU) environmental management assistant professor Dr Sumaya Yusuf.
“Our consumption and shopping patterns must be sustainable because current behaviours will cause irreversible damage to the planet and we need to think of future generations.
“According to the research, every individual in Bahrain throws away around 136 tonnes of food annually which are unprecedented numbers for such a small country and it rings the alarm bells necessitating immediate changes in behaviour.”
According to Dr Yusuf, the geographical space of Bahrain is reaching complete capacity in terms of waste as the Akar landfill has surpassed its projected capacity and life span. She revealed that a recent study she conducted has revealed that municipal waste accounted for 500,000 to 600,000 tonnes annually in 2020 while in 2021, 50 per cent of that waste was food waste coming from houses.
“This is an unprecedented number in Bahrain and due to the pandemic maybe people have increased their consumption as well as their wastage in a way never seen before,” she added.
“Unfortunately, this has resulted in food wastage in Bahrain reaching 250,000 tonnes which is an alarming number for such a small country.”
The GDN first highlighted the UN report suggesting Bahrainis waste the most food among all Arabs, last month.
Ironically, health and food security expert Dr Zakariya Khonji said that in Bahrain there were ‘high levels of environmental awareness’, a statement backed up by studies and research conducted in the GCC.
The issue appears to concern putting that knowledge into action. “The Askar landfill has been operational since the 1970s and it has already reached its projected capacity. How much more are we willing to keep dumping there?” he added during the conference.
EFFORTS
“This isn’t just a waste of food but also a waste of energy and we need to remember that every single person leaves behind a carbon footprint.
“The pandemic has unified the entire world and we all felt as one person battling to eradicate the virus and we need to use the same belief system to unite and preserve the Earth.
“An individual effort made by one person does make a difference and it turns into a collaborative effort that makes a tremendous change.”
Northern Municipality director general Lamya Al Fadhala stressed the importance of intensifying awareness-raising campaigns and efforts while also creating alternative, innovative solutions to manage and recycle waste.
She highlighted that community partnership and collaborative efforts between the government and the people were critical to ensure environment preservation and sustainable development.
reem@gdn.com.bh
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