Lai Ying Xian, Prasha Maithani, Tjiu Karuna Bakti Sudarsono, Wee Li Shuen
Academic Advisor: Mr. N Sivasothi
Industry Advisor: Sodexo
Plastic pollution currently poses a serious threat to our natural environments, flora and fauna. A major contributor to this pollution are food service operations, even on tertiary education campuses. In this project, we investigated the reduction in the use of plastic bags used in RVRC dining hall by loaning out lunch boxes. The number of lunchboxes needed was estimated based on a survey conducted and data from the dining hall collected over a period of 6 months. The Lunchbox Rental Programme (LBRP) was executed from 5th to 9th March, and 12th March, between 8 -10:30 am. We found that lunchboxes rental did not effectively reduce plastic bag usage and inconvenience was the primary reason. We concluded that the habit of a convenient lifestyle is accountable for the excessive consumption of single-use plastic disposables. As a future consideration, the convenience that the proposed solution entails should be analysed before its launch.
Keywords: Food, Food Waste, Lunch boxes rental, Plastics waste, Food containers