Empty food packets and party items left behind by folks celebrating on New Year’s Eve in Bukit Bintang. — Filepic
THERE was about a 4.6% reduction in total waste collected in Kuala Lumpur last year, compared to 2022.
Alam Flora Sdn Bhd operations manager (north) Anuar Mohd Shah said the reason could be the increasing awareness among people to reduce waste.
In 2022, Anuar said Alam Flora collected 699,698 tonnes of waste.
“Last year, we collected 666,862 tonnes of waste, which were 32,836 tonnes less than in 2022.
“The waste consisted of all types, including domestic, bulk and garden wastes. Recyclables are excluded,” he said.
However, data showed a 2.7% increase in waste collected after the New Year’s Eve countdown celebrations on Jan 1 from various parts of the city, compared to the same occasion last year.
Anuar said Alam Flora collected 3.06 tonnes of waste from Kuala Lumpur city centre, Bukit Bintang and Dataran Merdeka, a slight increase from the previous year, when some 2.98 tonnes were collected.
“Some 128 workers were tasked to start cleaning after midnight on Jan 1.
“Although there were no official celebrations, many people had gathered at the popular locations to usher in the new year.
“Many mobile and pop-up traders had set up stalls to sell food and party items.”
Anuar said people needed to change their habits and adopt a cleaner lifestyle, in accordance with the changing times.
“Anticipating the crowd, we provided rubbish bins at strategic locations but many still chose to litter, mostly food packets and drink containers, especially by the roadsides and near bushes or plants.
“While our men were on standby to empty bins, many of the permanent rubbish bins that were not maintained by us were overflowing, and people continued to throw rubbish around it,” he said, adding that Bukit Bintang was the dirtiest.
“People need to change their attitude towards cleanliness, and perhaps enforcement needs to be ramped up too,” said Anuar.
He said it was impossible to put rubbish bins at every couple of metres.
As such, when there were no bins in sight, people should hang on to their rubbish until they find one, instead of littering, he added.
