Improving Food Waste Management in the School Canteen Utilizing Facility Management Principles

Abstract

Bang Lamung School in Thailand is a large secondary school with a total of 2,534 people that daily dine at the school’s canteen. The amount of food waste is about 180 liters per day, or 900 liters per week, which creates problems for the school in terms of unpleased scenery and smell. In addition, the school’s mission is to be a “Lab School Project or “One District, One School of Dreams.” Therefore, the school should be hygienic in terms of its waste management. This paper presents a food waste management analysis based on the concept of facility management (FM): people, place, and process. The paper has 3 objectives: (1) to study the existing problems of food waste in the school; (2) to compare the 3 methods of food waste management (composting, microorganisms, and biogas); and (3) to propose guidelines for the food waste management in the school. The methodology of the paper was interviews with related peoples—teachers, students, and the canteen’s traders. The results revealed that composting was the most appropriate way to solve the problems for Bang Lamung School because the process is basic and can generate maximum revenue. Moreover, the rear area of building number 9 is suggested for carrying out the composting process. This paper will benefit the school director in terms of managing the food waste in a proper way and increasing awareness of food waste for the students and other related people.