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Holistic policies and
approaches are adopted
by Singapore to overcome
our challenge of limited
land area and the
increasing rate of waste
disposal due to economic
and population growth.
LAND
Solid Waste SituationSince the 1970s, the amount of solid waste disposed
of in Singapore has increased six-fold. If nothing is
done, we would need to build a new incineration
plant every fi ve to seven years and a new landfi ll
the size of Sentosa every twenty-fi ve to thirty
years. These disposal sites require large tracts of
land, a luxury which land-scarce Singapore cannot
afford. With many other competing demands for
land space, it is certainly not sustainable to go on
building more waste disposal facilities to meet this
increasing need.
CHA PTER
4
The SolutionNEA actively promotes and spearheads waste
minimisation and recycling efforts in Singapore to ensure
the sustainable management of waste. Central to its
efforts are the following three key strategies:
1. Waste MINIMISATION at source
2. RECYCLING
3. Volume REDUCTION through incineration
At the top of the waste management hierarchy is the
principle of waste minimisation through responsible
and sustainable consumption, avoidance of wastage,
and consumption of products that generate less waste.
Next, we aim to recycle as much as possible to minimise
the quantity of waste disposed of and to recover
valuable resources. Finally, all remaining wastes that can
be incinerated are sent for incineration to reduce its
volume to further minimise the need for landfi ll space.
Waste Minimisation At Source
Voluntary Packaging Agreement
Packaging waste, consisting of paper, metal, plastic
and glass currently makes up a signifi cant 35% of our
domestic waste. The Voluntary Packaging Agreement
aims to reduce packaging waste by co-opting
manufacturers and brand-owners into the scheme to
help reduce waste through product re-design, while
enhancing public awareness at the same time.
To implement the agreement, key 3P (People, Private,
Public) partners such as the Singapore Environment
Council (SEC), the Packaging Council of Singapore, and
participating industries and groupings will join forces to
develop, share best practices and set targets on the
reduction and recovery of packaging waste. For a start,
a voluntary agreement for the food & beverage sector
was launched in June 2007. Already, some companies
are proactively reducing the amount of waste they
generate. An example is Chinatown Food Corporation
which has reduced the thickness of plastic packaging
for its food prata, saving about 8.4 tonnes of
packaging material a year. Similarly, Nestle Singapore
has reduced the thickness of its MILO tins and will save
about 9.5 tonnes of material per year.
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PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP
Singapore’s packaging agreement is based on
the principle of product stewardship. This
means that stakeholders ranging from
manufacturers, retailers and consumers to
waste managers of the products are involved
and responsible for managing the products’
ultimate impact on the environment when they
are fi nally discarded.
Product stewardship recognises that product
manufacturers can and must take on new
responsibilities to reduce the environmental
footprint of their products. However, real
change cannot always be achieved by
producers acting alone: retailers, consumers, and
the existing waste management infrastructure
will have to pitch in to come up with the
most cost-effective and environmentally-friendly
waste disposal solution.
Cutting Wastage Of Plastic BagsTo promote resource conservation and minimise wastage,
a national campaign was launched in February 2006
to discourage the excessive use of plastic bags. The
‘Why Waste Plastic Bags? Choose Reusable Bags!’
campaign encourages people to use reusable bags as a
sustainable alternative when they shop.
In many countries, plastic bags are landfi lled. This
results in environmental problems as plastic bags
are non-biodegradable and remain in the landfi ll for
extended periods of time. In Singapore, most plastic
shopping bags are reused in homes to bag refuse.
This prevents dripping and spilling of refuse in the
waste collection process, and is a good hygienic practice.
Finally, the plastic bags are burnt in the waste-to-energy
incinerators where energy is recovered. The main aim of
the campaign is thus to reduce the excessive wastage of
plastic bags and encourage greater use of reusable bags.
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The ‘Why Waste Plastic Bags? Choose Reusable
Bags!’ campaign was organised by a working
group comprising major supermarket chains,
retailers, Singapore Environment Council and NEA.
Besides training cashiers to ask shoppers
if they needed bags for small purchases
and to pack more goods into bags, the
participating retailers also sold reusable
bags at low prices to encourage more
shoppers to start using reusable bags.
Bearing in mind that getting
shoppers to make a lifestyle
change would take time, a
sustained campaign is necessary.
Newspaper advertisements
were published and various
activities such as exhibitions
were organised during important
events in the environmental calendar
such as Earth Day 2006 and World Environment Day
2006. In April 2007, the ‘Bring Your Own Bag’ campaign
was also launched and has since become a monthly event
where shoppers are encouraged to bring their own bags
to bag their purchases. Many retailers such as FairPrice,
Carrefour, Giant, Cathay Cineplexes, etc. are currently
participating in this monthly event.
DID YOU KNOW?Singaporeans use about 2.5 billion plastic bags a year for bagging their purchases. This represents some 19,000 tonnes or 0.8% of the total waste disposed of in Singapore annually.
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Recycling
Why Recycle?
Recycling not only reduces the amount of waste going
to our disposal facilities but also recovers valuable
resources that can be reused. In order for recycling
to catch on, NEA is working together with its 3P
(People, Private and Public) partners to make
recycling a part of everyday life for all.
Recycling At Home
Since April 2001, licensed public waste
collectors (PWCs) are required to
implement door-to-door collection of recyclable
materials in both Housing Development
Board (HDB) and private landed estates.
Households are given recycling bags or
bins to store their unwanted paper, plastic
and glass bottles, old clothing, metal cans,
drink cartons, etc., for collection by the PWCs
every fortnight on predetermined collection dates.
To make it possible for one to recycle at any time of
the day, we have completed the roll-out of centralised
recycling bins in HDB estates. A set of centralised
recycling bins has been placed for every 5 blocks
of fl ats to ensure that most HDB residents will not
need to travel more than 150 metres to deposit their
recyclables, at their own time and convenience.
Recycling facilities have progressively been introduced
in private apartment-blocks and condominiums so that
these residents will eventually have the same level of
access to recycling bins as those served by the PWCs.
Recycling At Schools
As part of our efforts to inculcate the habit of recycling
from young, NEA works closely with schools to help set
up Recycling Corners. Recycling bins are installed for the
collection of paper, cans and plastic bottles; educational
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Pneumatic Refuse Conveyance System In HDB Flats
The Pneumatic Refuse Conveyance System (PRCS),
a modern method to the current mode of refuse
collection, is under trial in some HDB blocks.
Under the conventional method, cleaners manually
clear out rubbish chutes and this process creates
some noise and smell nuisance, especially for
residents on the lower fl oors. The PRCS helps to
mitigate such problems as it conveys refuse by air
suction from individual blocks through a network
of pipes to a central location for collection.
HDB has installed the PRCS in 11 blocks in the
Choa Chu Kang Estate. The PRCS operates
automatically six times a day to convey the refuse
from the individual blocks to the centralised
collection centre. Feedback from residents has
been positive so far as there is no nuisance odour
and noise when the refuse is being cleared out.
materials such as posters and booklets are also made
available to students. Participating schools monitor the
progress of the recycling programme from the tonnage
of recyclables collected on a monthly basis.
We also work in tandem with schools to organise talks,
exhibitions and competitions to enhance the educational
experience. An example is the Recycling Outreach
Programme that was launched during the 2005 Clean
& Green Week Schools Carnival. This Community
Involvement Programme aims to involve students in
reaching out not only to their school community, but
also their neighbours to encourage pro-active green
behaviour and promote awareness towards recycling.
In 2007, NEA developed educational materials for the
3R programme for pre-schools and subsequently rolled
out the programme in 2008. Participating students
are encouraged to bring the recycling message home
and spur their family members to recycle under the
National Recycling Programme (NRP).
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Public Recycling Bins
A network of recycling bins in high-pedestrian public areas, such as MRT stations, public walkways and markets,
complements the recycling infrastructure. The network not only serves public on the move, but also areas not
already covered by other schemes.
Recycling In Industry
The industry is another sector that we actively engage to promote recycling. Apart from facilitating the recycling of
recyclable industrial waste such as sludge, slag, waste wood, electronic waste and construction and demolition (C&D)
waste, NEA provides funding under its $20 million Innovation for Environmental Sustainability Fund for test-bedding
of recycling technologies. It also rents out land at competitive rates at the Sarimbun Recycling Park to help recycling
start-ups fi nd their feet in the early years.
Reducing Waste Going To The Landfill
Besides promoting the recycling of non-incinerable wastes such as sludge, slag and C&D waste, NEA also supported
initiatives to convert incineration ash into usable products such as road construction aggregates so as to reduce the
amount of waste ending up in the landfi ll.
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Volume Reduction Through IncinerationIncineration continues to be an important part of our
waste management strategy. Through incineration, we
not only reduce the volume of waste going to Semakau
Landfi ll by up to 90% but also recover heat from the
combustion process to generate electricity.
All non-hazardous incinerable waste that cannot be
recovered, reused or recycled is burnt in NEA’s four
waste-to-energy plants. A fi fth 800 tonnes-per-day plant
to replace a plant which is at the end of its useful life
is currently being built by Keppel Seghers Engineering
Singapore Pte Ltd under a Design-Build-Own-Operate
(DBOO) contract. The plant, which is fi nanced under
the Private-Public Partnership or PPP-approach, is
expected to be operational by 2009.
This Private-Public Partnership
or PPP-approach is the fi rst for
an incineration plant in Singapore.
There are signifi cant advantages to
using the PPP-approach for such a
service like incineration, previously
provided by the Government. It
creates new opportunities for the
private sector and also allows
them to build up their technical and
operational expertise. This will in
turn improve their credibility when
Singapore companies market such
services overseas.
Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources
During the incineration process, heat energy is not
wasted but harvested and converted into electricity,
while ferrous metals are recovered and sold as scrap
metal. Last year, 2% of Singapore’s electricity needs
was generated by our incineration plants.
DID YOU KNOW?
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Semakau: More Than Just A Landfi llThe world’s fi rst offshore landfi ll is located 8 km off the
southern coast of Singapore. Semakau Landfi ll, managed
by NEA and in operation since 1 April 1999, was created
to meet Singapore’s waste disposal needs when the last
one on the mainland at Lorong Halus closed in 1999.
Built at a cost of S$610 million, this man-made landfi ll
was produced by linking the islands of Pulau Semakau
and Pulau Sakeng with a 7 km perimeter rock bund.
Currently, Semakau Landfi ll receives about 1,400 tonnes
of incineration ash and 600 tonnes of non-incinerable
waste daily, and is projected to last until 2040. When
completely fi lled up, the landfi ll will create an island with
a land area of approximately 350 hectares.
Instead of the usual images of landfi lls fi lled with rubbish,
Semakau Landfi ll has been carefully designed and
managed to ensure a pleasant environment where
the island’s natural habitats and rich biodiversity are
preserved – a result of strict environmental and
conservation measures taken by the NEA.
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Key Characteristics Of Semakau Landfi ll
• Only inorganic waste and ashes are allowed at the landfi ll.
• The perimeter bund has been lined with a layer of marine clay and impermeable membrane to ensure that polluting
substances do not leak out and contaminate the environment. Monitoring wells dot the bund at 100-metre intervals
to measure the surrounding water quality.
• Two mangrove planting plots totaling 136,000 square metres have been planted next to the landfi ll, serving as
biological indicators of any leaks of waste. These mangroves are thriving today – a living testament to the safety
and ecological viability of the landfi ll.
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Semakau: A Nature & Recreational HavenSemakau Landfi ll was opened to members of the public in July 2005. Visitors to the landfi ll will
fi nd themselves in a veritable nature haven rich in a variety of fl ora and fauna, including over
50 species of birds such as the endangered great-billed heron. In addition, Semakau’s reefs are abound
with corals and other creatures. Recent surveys have also yielded exciting discoveries including a
vast meadow of rare tape seagrass, giant barramundi cod as well as sightings of black-tipped sharks!
Members of the public can enjoy a highly scenic landfi ll – tucked away in the pristine waters of Southern
Singapore, co-existing with mangrove, grassland and shoreline habitats. The public can participate in
various recreational activities available at the landfi ll, such as inter-tidal marine-life exploration walks,
bird-watching and sport fi shing. This is also an excellent opportunity for the public to develop a greater
sense of appreciation and shared ownership of our environment.
Going ForwardThus far, the results of our efforts in waste minimisation and recycling have helped tremendously to divert
waste from ending up in the landfi ll. From a recycling rate of 40% in 2000, recycling has been on an upward
trend, reaching 54% in 2007. This has culminated in the extension of the life of the landfi ll from the
original 25 - 30 years to the current 35 - 40 years.
Moving forward, we will continue to actively promote the 3Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle – to realise our goal of
‘Towards Zero Landfi ll’ and ‘Towards Zero Waste’.
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