Pahang SWCorp expects increase in solid waste with upcoming Aidilfitri celebration

KUANTAN, April 4 — Household solid waste in Pahang is expected to increase by five per cent or 1,400 tonnes per day with the upcoming Aidilfitri celebration compared to 1,200 tonnes per day on normal days, according to Solid Waste And Public Cleansing Management Corporation (SWCorp).

Pahang SWCorp director Sharudin Hamid said the estimate was based on the previous year’s analysis which found an increase of between five to 10 per cent a week before Raya in the trend of solid waste generation.

He said in 2022, household waste disposal in the state a week before Aidilfitri was about 1,175 tonnes per day and increased to 1,284 tonnes per day in 2023.

However, he said, the amount of waste generation reduced a week after the Raya celebration.

“With the Raya holiday to start this Friday or Saturday, people will start travelling back to their hometowns, cleaning their homes and replacing old furniture with new ones for the celebration. So, there will be more waste with the unused items thrown away.

“There will also be more leftover food with more people in a household, but SWCorp, together with Alam Flora Sdn Bhd, have drawn up synergies and strategies for solid waste collection work ahead of Eid, which is expected on April 10,” he told reporters at the Pahang SWCorp iftar ceremony last night.

He said the temporary change in the solid waste collection through ‘Ops Raya With Alam Flora’ would start on April 7 in 10 districts involving 1,342 locations throughout the state.

The solid waste collection will return to the normal schedule on April 11 for the districts of Kuantan, Pekan, Rompin, Muadzam Shah, Maran and Jerantut, he said, adding that for Bera, Temerloh, Bentong and Lipis districts, it would be on April 14.

“This change in the collection schedule is to ensure no waste overflow before or during the Aidilifitri celebration later and that the waste collection will still be done twice a week,” he said.

He said 3,500 workers and 250 collection machines are available for solid and bulk waste collection work.

“We also urge vehicle owners to park their vehicles at appropriate places and not block the path of garbage trucks,” he said.

He said 11 units of roro bins will also be temporarily placed for five days starting April 6 in selected locations and the public can also check the latest collection schedule on SWCorp Pahang’s official Facebook. — Bernama