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

Compulsory for large hotels, malls to report waste data [News]

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

In a bid to cut waste and boost recycling, the Government is making it compulsory for large hotels and shopping malls to report how much waste they generate and their targets for reducing and recycling it.

Only hotels with more than 200 rooms and malls with net rental areas of more than 50,000 sq ft will have to do it.

In all, about 100 hotels and 74 malls will be affected by the measure, which will be introduced in 2014.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan announced the move on Tuesday.

Elaborating on it later, a National Environment Agency (NEA) spokesman said the outcome of the new measure would help decide whether it will be extended to ‘other commercial and industrial premises’. Read more

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