BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

DON’T burn away your household waste; turn them into compost, says Department of Environment and Recreational Parks (Jastre) environment officer Norlida Hj Suhaili yesterday.

Norlida hoped that the public will warm up to the idea of composting their household waste instead of burning them which contribute to air pollution.

Compost is an environmentally-friendly organic material used as an alternative to chemical and organic fertilisers, said Norlida at a talk titled, “Compost-environmentally friendly organic material” at the Ministry of Development in conjunction with the ministry’s Customer Day.

Compost helps to increase fertility of the soil, therefore reducing the need for commercial and organic fertilisers.

Among other benefits, this will save costs on organic and chemical fertilisers, she said.

“Realising the potential that we can get from these waste as compost, Jastre began its compost project in 2005. Now, instead of sending these waste to the landfill, they are collected, and recycled to become compost,” she said.

Jastre collected a total of 62,900 kg (62.9 tonnes) of dry materials and 3,400kg (3.4 tonnes) of green materials from September 2005 until April 2010, said Norlida.

This was the total amount of waste generated from the department’s landscape maintenance works which would normally be disposed off at the landfill ground, said Norlida.

She added, “Composting the waste also reduces the amount of waste and the cost of waste disposal. Composting also reduces pollution as people now do not have to burn dried leaves.”

“It also aimed at increasing the awareness and open the minds of Jastre staff on the importance of the 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) concept,” she added.

Involvement in compost projects can also open up opportunities in business for private and public sectors.

Norlida said Jastre had benefited greatly from composting their waste. The benefits include reduction on the amount of waste, with the compost increasing the value-added from using recycling products as it helps improve the soil’s moisture, fertility to act as a growth enhancer.

“Using compost is also safe, compared to the conventional chemical fertilisers,” she said. “Chemical fertilisers have side effects which include distortion of the soil structure and the ecosystem.

Asked what are her expectations on the public reaction with regards to composting their waste at home, Norlida said, “It is difficult to determine how the public will react to compost. We have not been out promoting composting, but there are plans to do this.”

She added: “I am sure that the majority of the public have heard of composting through television and other media”.

The Brunei Times

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