Operationalizing Circular Economy Goals through Food-Waste Composting: A GREEN Framework for Hawker Centers

Hawker centres operated by Malaysian local authorities (or Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan, PBT) generate heterogeneous streams of food waste-including pre-preparation trimmings, inprocess losses, plate leftovers, and expired inventory-that require site-specific interventions.This paper introduces the GREEN framework (Generate, Review, Establish, Engage, Normalise), developed through a review of international best practices and adapted to the Malaysian context.The framework is applied to a PBT-managed medan selera or food court or hawker centers producing 40-50 kg of food waste per day across multiple vendors.It integrates a food waste audit and composition analysis with operational diagnostics of vendor practices to identify feasible diversion pathways and inform the sizing of an on-site, low-footprint composting system.Building on evidence from community-scale initiatives in tropical settings, an aerated static pile (ASP) configuration is proposed, using locally available bulking agents such as rice husk, sawdust, and dry leaves to achieve optimal process conditions (55-65% moisture; C:N ratio 25-30).Literature further supports the use of bulking and biochar amendments to enhance porosity, thermophilic stability, and nitrogen retention.The system design must include siting, odor and leachate controls, safety measures, and municipal landscaping applications for the compost output.The contribution of this study is twofold: (i) the articulation of a replicable GREEN framework that PBTs can deploy rapidly with limited capital, and (ii) an evidence-based design specification suited for small-scale, decentralised composting.Findings align with regional policy directions and demonstrate that composting at the 40-50 kg per day scale is technically feasible, environmentally beneficial, and socio-institutionally acceptable when vendor segregation and bulking logistics are embedded into routine operations.