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.

Chapter04

p54

MAKIN

G EV

ERY

BREA

TH A

N EN

JOYA

BLE E

XPER

IENCE

St

ate of

the E

nviro

nmen

t 200

8 Re

port

Singa

pore

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.

Chapter04

p55

MAKIN

G EV

ERY

BREA

TH A

N EN

JOYA

BLE E

XPER

IENCE

St

ate of

the E

nviro

nmen

t 200

8 Re

port

Singa

pore

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.

Chapter04

p56

MAKIN

G EV

ERY

BREA

TH A

N EN

JOYA

BLE E

XPER

IENCE

St

ate of

the E

nviro

nmen

t 200

8 Re

port

Singa

pore

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

Chapter04

p57

MAKIN

G EV

ERY

BREA

TH A

N EN

JOYA

BLE E

XPER

IENCE

St

ate of

the E

nviro

nmen

t 200

8 Re

port

Singa

pore

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).

Chapter04

p58

MAKIN

G EV

ERY

BREA

TH A

N EN

JOYA

BLE E

XPER

IENCE

St

ate of

the E

nviro

nmen

t 200

8 Re

port

Singa

pore

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.

Chapter04

p59

MAKIN

G EV

ERY

BREA

TH A

N EN

JOYA

BLE E

XPER

IENCE

St

ate of

the E

nviro

nmen

t 200

8 Re

port

Singa

pore

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?

Chapter04

p60

MAKIN

G EV

ERY

BREA

TH A

N EN

JOYA

BLE E

XPER

IENCE

St

ate of

the E

nviro

nmen

t 200

8 Re

port

Singa

pore

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.

Chapter04

p61

MAKIN

G EV

ERY

BREA

TH A

N EN

JOYA

BLE E

XPER

IENCE

St

ate of

the E

nviro

nmen

t 200

8 Re

port

Singa

pore

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.

Chapter04

p62

MAKIN

G EV

ERY

BREA

TH A

N EN

JOYA

BLE E

XPER

IENCE

St

ate of

the E

nviro

nmen

t 200

8 Re

port

Singa

pore

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’.

Chapter04

p63

MAKIN

G EV

ERY

BREA

TH A

N EN

JOYA

BLE E

XPER

IENCE

St

ate of

the E

nviro

nmen

t 200

8 Re

port

Singa

pore