GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) is buying 10 food waste processing machines to reduce the amount of organic waste sent to landfills.
Each machine costs about RM30,000 and can process up to 300kg of food waste per hour.
MBPP Urban Services Department director Rashidah Jalaludin said the machines would be placed at selected markets, hawker centres, food complexes and recycling centres managed by the council.
She said funding had been allocated under this year’s budget, and an open tender has been conducted.
“The machines will be placed at locations that generate high volumes of food waste.
“We want to equip major council-owned markets and food complexes with these machines so food waste can be processed on site instead of thrown into rubbish bins,” she said.
Rashidah said a pilot project began in January, with one of the machines deployed during the Thaipusam celebrations.
The machine was subsequently used during the Penang Miaohui Festival 2026 (Temple Fair) and the Bayan Baru Ramadan Bazaar.
Following encouraging results from the pilot project, MBPP has moved into the second phase of the programme by requiring new markets and food complexes to incorporate food waste processing facilities.
Rashidah said the machines operate automatically, separating solid and liquid waste through a gravity-based mechanical filtration process.
She said the first output is food waste with up to 70% of its liquid removed, making it suitable as feed stock for compost production.
The second output is used cooking oil extracted from the waste, which can be recycled or sold.
From the end of January to June this year, Rashidah said the council processed 431.2kg of food waste collected during official events, including Thaipusam, the Penang Miaohui Festival 2026, Ramadan bazaars and Hari Raya open houses.
