I commend the National Environment Agency (NEA) on its recent efforts to reduce food waste by publishing a step-by-step guide for companies to develop waste reduction plans ("Food waste: E-book's food for thought"; Oct 25).

Food waste is a big problem in Singapore, and we are definitely on the right track by working with companies to redistribute unsold food or to properly treat food that is wasted and thrown away.

However, it is not enough to work only with companies to solve this problem; it is essential that everyone does his part.

The problem is, many Singaporeans don't have the knowledge or ability to go about reducing their food waste.

Hence if the NEA could adapt its guide for companies to fit the needs of the public, it could assist Singaporeans in reducing their food waste.

For example, currently, most Singaporeans dispose of their food waste together with the rest of their rubbish, as they don't know about alternatives.

Having a step-by-step guide to teach them what to do with their food waste would make it easier for them to start disposing their food waste separately, similar to how we separate our recyclables.

Aside from giving tips, this guidebook would also help increase awareness about the problem of food waste.

At the end of the day, reducing food waste is everyone's responsibility, not just that of large organisations.

Samuel Chua Te Jie