Siblings put food waste to good use [News]

By Leslie Kay Lim, The Straits Times, 11 Apr 2012.

For many businesses, excess food is merely waste to be thrown away. But for charities, it represents a precious resource.

They can redistribute the supplies to the needy, ensuring that nothing is wasted. All they need is to be matched with appropriate donors.

This is where Food Bank Singapore comes in. The soon-to-be-opened centre – with the motto: ‘Do not bin it when you can still eat it’- will be the first to coordinate food donation across the island.

Its co-founders, Ms Nichol Ng and her brother Nicholas, are managing directors of FoodXervices, which supplies more than 3,000 products to 2,000 end customers. They realised there was a lot of waste in the food business and a shortage in the welfare sector. So they set up the bank, which allows them to use their industry contacts to find donors and match them with appropriate recipients. Read more

Why are few Singaporean families going green? [News]

By Grace Chua, The Straits Times, 7 Apr 2012.

Singapore families are dismal when it comes to recycling and using energy efficiently, so much so that the Environment and Water Resources Ministry is seeking the help of experts to change their habits.

Consultants are being asked to carry out two studies to find out why people do not do what they should and set out an effective communication strategy to coax them to change their ways. One is on recycling, and the other, energy efficiency.

These studies to bring about behavioural change are a first by the ministry, and in line with its goals to manage waste sustainably and reduce carbon emissions per dollar of gross domestic product.

The tenders for both projects closed earlier this week. The ministry said the studies must be completed within four months of the contracts being signed. It declined to give further details. Read more

StarHub launches e-waste recycling programme for Earth Hour with a challenge [Press Releases]

Singapore, 30 March 2012 – For Earth Hour this year, from 8:30pm till 9:30pm on Saturday 31 March, expect to see dimmed lights, as well as lights and television screens turned off, at StarHub’s retail shops and Customer Service Centres around the island. That is because StarHub will be joining the rest of the planet once again to reduce electricity and greenhouse gas emissions.

Beyond this support for Earth Hour, StarHub will also be launching their electronic waste (e-waste) recycling programme. E-waste recycling bins will be placed at StarHub’s Customer Service Centres at OUB Centre, Plaza Singapura, Tampines Mall and StarHub Green. An e-waste recycling bin will also be placed at the Grid MMS Office at *SCAPE.

“StarHub is deeply committed to being an environmentally conscious corporate citizen and caring for the natural world,” said Neil Montefiore, Chief Executive Officer, StarHub. “Furthermore, as a provider of electronic equipment and e-services, we feel that it is only right to provide consumers with an avenue through which they can safely and responsibly dispose of their electronic waste.” Read more

Over 300 corporate organisations participating in Earth Hour [News]

By Qiuyi Tan, Channel NewsAsia, 29 Mar 2012.

More than 300 corporate organisations will be taking part in Earth Hour this Saturday.

Some companies are going beyond the hour in their sustainability drive this year, and they are doing more than turning off the lights.

Shopping malls, cinemas, hotels and even restaurants are prepared to hit the light switch for Earth Hour, which will take place between 8.30pm and 9.30pm.

But for local telco StarHub, it is only the start of a new recycling programme for old mobile phones, laptops, batteries and other electronic waste (e-waste).

Caitlin Fua, assistant vice-president of corporate communications at StarHub, said: “Today we are all familiar with where to recycle paper, where to recycle plastic and glass. But when we talk about electronic waste, people may ask, where can I do that? Read more

Singapore Waste Statistics 2011

The latest 2011 waste statistics and recycling rate for Singapore can be found at the National Environment Agency website. The following infographic gives an overview of the waste figures:

Waste Generated refers to the total amount of waste generated in Singapore, which is the addition of Waste Disposed and Waste Recycled. Waste Disposed refers to the total amount of waste disposed at the four waste-to-energy or incineration plants, and at the offshore Semakau Landfill. Waste Recycled refers to the total amount of waste that is recycled locally or exported overseas for recycling.

In 2011, about 6.9 million tonnes of waste was generated in Singapore, and each person generated around 1,330 kg of waste in a year. The recycling rate in Singapore for 2011 is 59% (58% in 2010), and has been increasing steadily over the years. The government has set a target of 60% recycling rate by 2012 in the Singapore Green Plan 2012, and 70% recycling rate by 2030 in the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint.

41% of Singapore’s waste is still disposed of, with 38% going to the waste-to-energy plants for incineration and energy recovery, and 3% of non-incinerable waste such as construction and demolition waste, used slag and treated sludge, going to the Semakau Landfill for landfilling.

% Composition of Waste Generated

The top 5 waste types make up 76% of the total waste generated in Singapore, which are either disposed of at the waste-to-energy plants and landfill, or recycled locally and exported:

1. Paper/Cardboard (20%)
2. Ferrous Metal (18%)
3. Construction Debris (17%)
4. Plastics (11%)
5. Food Waste (10%)

% Composition of Waste Disposed

The top 3 waste types make up 65% of the total waste disposed in Singapore:

1. Plastics (23%)
2. Food Waste (21%)
3. Paper/Cardboard (21%)

% Composition of Waste Recycled

The top 3 waste types make up 77% of the total waste recycled in Singapore:

1. Construction Debris (29%)
2. Ferrous Metal (29%)
3. Paper/Cardboard (19%)

Recycling Rate of Waste

For the 3 common types of waste disposed, the recycling rate for plastics and food waste is still low:

• Food Waste (10%)
• Plastics (11%)
• Paper/Cardboard (56%)

More efforts are needed to reduce the amount of plastics and food waste disposed and to increase their recycling rates. The recycling rate for plastics in 2011 is the same as 2010, and more can be done to educate Singaporeans on reducing the use of plastics and the recycling of plastic waste. The National Environment Agency (NEA) is likely to miss the target of 35% recycling rate for plastics by 2012, set in the Singapore Green Plan 2012.

The recycling rate for food waste has dropped from 16% in 2010 to 10% in 2011. This is likely due to the closing down of IUT Global last year, which was recycling food waste into biogas and compost. There is currently no news of the setting up of new food waste recycling plants, nor is there any food waste reduction campaign by the NEA. Without any concrete plans to reduce or recycle food waste, the food waste recycling rate would remain low over the next few years, and NEA is likely to miss the target of 30% recycling rate for food waste by 2012, set in the Singapore Green Plan 2012.

For paper, the recycling rate is 56% in 2011. NEA has met the target of 55% recycling rate for paper by 2012, set in the Singapore Green Plan 2012. Nevertheless, there is still room to recycle more paper, as 44% of the paper and cardboard waste generated still ends up being burned at the waste-to-energy plants.

Waste Statistics from 2000 to 2011

From 2000 to 2011, the waste disposed has increased by only 2% but the waste recycled has increased by a massive 117%. The total waste generated has increased by 48% from 4.6 million tonnes in 2000 to 6.9 million tonnes in 2011.

The waste data show that the efforts of the government in promoting waste recycling has paid off. However, waste generated has been increasing steadily since 2003. To work towards zero waste, there is a need for the total waste generated to reach a peak and decrease every year.

This means that we can’t depend only on high rates of recycling but we also need greater reduction in the waste disposed, in other words, more reduce and reuse of waste. Recycling is still the least effective of the 3 Rs and should be practised last after reduce and reuse.

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