Recycle

‘Can Recycle?’ Shows Items that are Acceptable for Recycling

We have been receiving frequent enquiries from our readers on whether certain waste items can be recycled under the National Recycling Programme (NRP) or through the public recycling bins. To be honest, we don’t have all the answers. So we... [Read more]

Singapore 2009 Waste Statistics

The latest 2009 waste statistics and recycling rate for Singapore can be found at the National Environment Agency’s website. An overview of the waste figures can be found in the following infographic: Waste Generated refers to the total amount... [Read more]

Where Can I Find Recycling Bins?

Do you know that there are more than 1,500 recycling bins all over Singapore? Do you know where they are located? We understand that you might wish to use the recycling bins near your house but can’t find them. To make it easier to find... [Read more]

Start Composting at Home

Composting is the natural decomposition of organic material (from plants and animals) by microorganisms, into a dark brown crumbly organic substance called compost. Compost mixed with soil is beneficial for growing plants as the compost retains... [Read more]

Start Recycling at Home

It’s easy to recycle at home. First, learn about the existing recycling programme at your area. Second, find out the type of items that are acceptable and unacceptable for recycling. Third, remember the collection date and place your... [Read more]

Start Recycling at Work

If your company or organisation already has a recycling programme, that’s good and you can recycle at work. If not, it’s time to start one now. Just follow our 6 steps to minimise waste and start recycling at work. First, you would... [Read more]

Start Recycling at School

Recycling programmes are common in our schools (preschools, primary, secondary and tertiary levels), and they are usually initiated by the National Environment Agency (NEA) or by the school administration. Recycling bins and recyclables collection... [Read more]

Paper Recycling

Paper is the most common type of waste in Singapore and about 1.26 million tonnes of paper waste was generated in 2008. The recycling rate of paper is 48% in 2008, and most of this paper waste is sorted, baled and exported overseas for recycling... [Read more]

Plastics Recycling

In Singapore, 684,400 tonnes of plastic waste was generated in 2008 and the recycling rate is 9%. Plastic waste, especially plastic bottles and containers, are usually sorted, baled and exported overseas for recycling. There are also plastic... [Read more]

Metal Recycling

Metal scrap is the 3rd largest type of waste in Singapore. In 2008, 784,800 tonnes of ferrous metal scrap and 85,000 tonnes of non-ferrous metal scrap was generated. The recycling rate is 94% for ferrous metal and 85% for non-ferrous metal in... [Read more]

Glass Recycling

In Singapore, 57,100 tonnes of glass waste was generated in 2008 and the recycling rate is 18%. Glass waste is usually sorted and exported overseas for recycling as there are no glass recycling plants in Singapore. Let’s take a closer... [Read more]

Food Waste Recycling

In Singapore, 568,000 tonnes of food waste was generated in 2008 and the recycling rate is 12%. Food waste is usually processed as animal feed, and undergoes aerobic or anaerobic digestion to produce compost or energy. Let’s take... [Read more]

Wood and Horticultural Waste Recycling

In Singapore, 269,600 tonnes of wood waste and 229,300 tonnes of horticultural waste was generated in 2008. The recycling rate is 71% for wood waste and 42% for horticultural waste. Wood and horticultural waste are usually processed into wood... [Read more]

Electrical and Electronic Waste Recycling

Electrical and electronic items such as televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, handphones, computers, printers, and batteries are increasingly being disposed as waste after use. These waste are also known as e-waste and they are posing... [Read more]

Tyres Recycling

In Singapore, 25,100 tonnes of scrap tyres was generated in 2008 and the recycling rate is 88%. Scrap tyres are usually rethreaded, exported overseas for reuse, or processed into crumbs for making surfaces and into chips for use as a solid... [Read more]

Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling

In Singapore, 922,000 tonnes of construction debris was generated in 2008 and the recycling rate is 98%. Construction and demolition (C&D) waste is usually sorted for the recovery of materials such as wood, metal, paper and plastics, and... [Read more]

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Blog

Explore Simple and Cost-Effective Ways to Maximise the Use of Our Existing Recycling Infrastructure

Grace Chua from the Straits Times wrote an article yesterday on Recycling: Time to get our act together. She suggested some laws and improvements to increase the recycling efforts of households and businesses. Before considering her suggestions for households, I would suggest that the National Environment Agency (NEA) explore simple and cost-effective ways to maximise the use of our existing recycling... [Read more]

Green Future Solutions Starts mywaterbottle Campaign to Encourage the Use of Refillable Water Bottles and Reduce Single-Use Bottled Water

Green Future Solutions started its first green campaign called mywaterbottle on 22 April 2010, Earth Day. mywaterbottle is a non-profit campaign to encourage more Singaporeans to use their own refillable water bottles, instead of buying or taking single-use bottled water. mywaterbottle Goals mywaterbottle aims to achieve the following goals: 1. Create awareness on the environmental impacts of single-use... [Read more]

Committee of Supply Debate 2010: Recycling and Waste Minimisation

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources gave his speech during the Committee of Supply Debate under the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) recently. His speech addresses various environmental policies, including recycling and waste minimisation: Improving Recycling Efforts Singapore’s overall recycling rate increased from 40% in 2000 to 57% in 2009... [Read more]

Drinking Straw Art – Fantasy on a Full Moon

Fantasy on a Full Moon is an art wall mural made from drinking straws and displayed at the Esplanade a few months back. The plastic drinking straws are transformed into animal shapes such as dragons, snails and prawns. We find it really amazing how it’s possible to reuse plastic straws for art. Here are some photos of the wall mural and animal art. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Drinking... [Read more]

Green Drinks Singapore – Jan 2010

From Green Drinks Singapore: —– Venue: Naive, 99 East Coast Road This month, we are gathering all the green groups, societies, businesses and individuals with green values to talk about their plans for 2010, and explore ways we can all work together. In particular, we are targetting to have ECO (Singapore), SEC, Nature Society (Singapore), Vegetarian Society (Singapore), Social Innovation... [Read more]

What Do You Do With Used Red Packets?

Chinese New Year is 1 month away and it’s the time for receiving and giving out red packets. What do you do with all the used red packets? If you have reused them to make something, take a photo, share your tips and send to editor@zerowastesg.com. We will post the interesting ones on our website. Thanks and look forward to some great ideas! SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "What Do You Do With Used... [Read more]

20,000 Wishing Spheres Recycled After Marina Bay Singapore Countdown

In Oct 2009, a friend informed Zero Waste Singapore about the disposal of wishing spheres for the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown. We have seen the spheres before but never asked what happened to them after the year-end countdown party. The Wishing Sphere Project is a significant component of the Marina Bay SINGAPORE Countdown. Members of the community are all invited to join in the project by penning... [Read more]

How Nokia and TES-AMM Recycles Old Mobile Phones

Green Business Times went for a site visit recently to check out how Nokia and its e-waste vendor, TES-AMM (Singapore) Pte Ltd, collects and recycles old mobile phones. Nokia has the largest voluntary mobile phone recycling scheme worldwide, with takeback and collection facilities in over 5,000 Nokia Care Centres across 85 countries. In Singapore, Nokia currently has collection points in all Nokia... [Read more]

Some Banks Just Don’t Get It

It is amazing how some banks waste resources in their marketing campaigns. One example is when banks send pre-approved credit cards to their customers, even though their customers never ask for those cards. The photo above shows all the material inside a single envelope by DBS, including the letter, pre-approved credit card, brochures, card agreement, and discount vouchers. Customers who are not interested... [Read more]

Photos of Recycling Day 2009

The photos that we took at today’s Recycling Day is posted on our Facebook page. Here’s a preview: SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Photos of Recycling Day 2009", url: "http://www.zerowastesg.com/2009/09/26/photos-of-recycling-day-2009/" }); Read More →

Recycling Day 2009

The annual Recycling Day is back this weekend and next, check out the NEA website for more details and activities. Image source: Clean and Green Singapore SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Recycling Day 2009", url: "http://www.zerowastesg.com/2009/09/24/recycling-day-2009/" }); Read More →

Can Recycle?

We have been receiving a few enquiries from our readers on whether their waste items can be recycled under the National Recycling Programme (NRP) or using the public recycling bins. They asked whether these items can be recycled – Yakult bottles, milk cartons, CDs, plastic packaging, shredded paper, spectacles, aluminium foil, styrofoam boxes, shoes, soft toys, pillows, clothing, food cans, stamps,... [Read more]

$15 Million Seed Fund to Build Capabilities in Waste Management

This is a news release from NEA. Singapore, 5 June 2009 – A $15 million Environment Technology Research Programme (ETRP) has been launched by the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, as part of the Environment and Water Industry Development Council (EWI) and National Environment Agency (NEA)’s joint efforts to develop capabilities in waste management. The ETRP... [Read more]

2008 Waste Statistics and Current Waste Situation in Singapore (Part Four)

Continued from Part Three, which looked at the recycling rate of the different waste, and the opportunities for food waste reduction. This final part explores the opportunities for reducing the generation of Paper/Cardboard and Plastics waste. We will look at campaigns, companies, services, projects and tips that help to reduce paper and plastic waste. . Opportunities for Paper Waste Reduction We think... [Read more]

National Environment Agency’s 3R Fund Opens For Applications

News Release from National Environment Agency. The National Environment Agency’s S$8 million 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) Fund was officially launched by Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, at the 3R Seminar today. Now open for applications, the 3R Fund will co-fund up to 80% of the qualifying costs of new waste minimisation and recycling projects, subject to a... [Read more]

Business Material Exchange (Under Construction)

Zero Waste Singapore is in the process of creating Singapore’s first Business Material Exchange (BMX). BMX is a free, online material exchange for businesses in Singapore. Think Freecycle for business. BMX helps your business find users for your surplus materials, unwanted items, waste and by-products that you normally disposed of. BMX may also be used by businesses, schools and non-profit organisations... [Read more]

2008 Waste Statistics and Current Waste Situation in Singapore (Part Three)

Continued from Part Two, which looks at the % composition by weight of the waste output, waste disposed and waste recycled in 2008. Just to recap, we concluded that the focus should be to achieve greater waste reduction in Paper/Cardboard, Plastics and Food Waste, as they are common in households and offices, and there exist opportunities for projects and campaigns to reduce their output. Besides waste... [Read more]

2008 Waste Statistics and Current Waste Situation in Singapore (Part Two)

Continued from Part One, which looks at the waste disposed, waste recycled, total waste output and the recycling rate for Singapore from 2000 to 2008. Just to recap, Waste Disposed refers to the total amount of waste disposed at the four incineration plants and the offshore Semakau Landfill. Waste Recycled refers to the total amount of waste that are recycled locally or exported overseas for recycling.... [Read more]

2008 Waste Statistics and Current Waste Situation in Singapore (Part One)

The latest 2008 waste statistics for Singapore can be found at the National Environment Agency’s website. Together with previous waste data from the NEA’s annual reports, we present a snapshot of the current waste situation in Singapore below. In the graph above, Waste Disposed refers to the total amount of waste disposed at the four incineration plants and the offshore Semakau Landfill.... [Read more]

Bring Your Own Utensils (BYOU)

How many disposable forks, spoons and chopsticks do you throw away each year? Let’s assume that a person throws away a pair of disposable utensils each week, which means that 104 utensils are disposed annually and if everyone in Singapore does the same, this result in the disposal of about 500,000,000 utensils in Singapore each year. If you are using disposable utensils, you are wasting oil,... [Read more]

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