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 recyclables outside for collection.

You can start recycling at home with these 3 steps:

1. Learn About Your Recycling Programme

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has implemented the National Recycling Programme (NRP) since 2001, where recycling bags or bins are given to residents living in HDB housing estates and landed properties.

These recycling bags and bins are provided by the appointed recycling contractors and the recyclables are collected fortnightly (once every two weeks) at your doorstep.

For more information, check out this NRP brochure by NEA. For enquiries, call 1800-CALL NEA (1800-2255 632) or email Contact_NEA@nea.gov.sg.

In addition, there are public recycling bins placed at housing estates (about one set of recycling bins placed for every five blocks) to supplement the NRP. Find recycling bins near your home.

Condominiums and private apartments are not covered under the NRP. However, it is mandatory for condominiums and private apartments to provide recycling facilities for their residents from 1 Nov 2008. If there’s no recycling facilities at your place, contact your Managing Agents (MAs) and Management Councils (MCs). The MAs and MCs can also refer to the NEA’s online guidebook to learn how to set up a recycling programme.

2. Find Out What You Can Recycle

You can make use of the recycling programme to recycle items such as paper, plastic bottles and containers, glass bottles, metal cans and old clothing.

Find out what items are acceptable or unacceptable for recycling from this NEA poster or the NRP brochure.

3. Remember Your Recycling Collection Date

The date or calendar of your recycling collection is printed on the recycling bag or bin. Remember to place your bag/bin outside your doorstep on the correct collection date and before the collection time specified on the bag/bin.

For enquiries on the collection, contact your recycling contractor whose telephone number is printed on the recycling bag/bin.

What Happens to the Recyclables?

The recycling bag and recyclables are collected by the recycling collector and brought back to their facility. The recyclables are sorted manually or by equipment into the different types of material. The sorted recyclables are then sent to local recycling companies for processing into raw materials or new products, or exported overseas for recycling.

Watch this video to see what happens to the recyclables collected by a recycling collector, Altvater Jakob (now known as Veolia ES):

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 look at glass recycling:

1. Types of Glass for Recycling

Glass bottles, jars, containers and glass sheets are collected and sorted into the different colours for recycling: Clear, Brown and Green.

2. Why Recycle Glass

There are environmental benefits to glass recycling. According to Waste Online:

If recycled glass is used to make new bottles and jars, the energy needed in the furnace is greatly reduced. After accounting for the transport and processing needed, 315kg of CO2 is saved per tonne of glass melted.

For every tonne of recycled glass used, 1.2 tonnes of raw materials are preserved.

Recycling reduces the amount of waste glass which needs to be landfilled. Although glass is inert and is not directly hazardous to the environment, it will remain there indefinitely.

3. The Glass Recycling Process

At the glass recycling plant, glass waste is sorted into different colours and crushed into small pieces called cullets. Contaminants such as paper and metal are removed, and the cullet is melted in a high temperature furnance. The molten cullet is then molded to form glass products.

Watch this animation video on the glass recycling process from RecycleBank:

4. Recycled Glass Products

Glass waste can be recycled continuously and made into new glass products like bottles, jars, containers and ornaments. The glass cullet can also be crushed into powder and used as material in making bricks, tiles, abrasives and replacement of sand.

Watch this video on how abrasives are made from recycled glass cullet powder:

5. Glass Recycling in Singapore

In Singapore, 57,100 tonnes of glass waste was generated in 2008 and the recycling rate is 18%. Glass waste is usually collected through the recycling programmes. The glass waste is sorted and exported overseas for recycling as there are no glass recycling plants in Singapore.

It is also common for beer bottles to be collected from restaurants, hotels and food outlets for reuse in a local brewery (not included in the recycling figures).

6. Collectors, Traders and Recycling Companies for Glass

The list of collectors and traders for glass is available at the NEA website.

7. What Can I Do

You can recycle glass bottles and containers through the various recycling programmes at home, in school and your office, or through the public recycling bins in your neighbourhood. But before you do so, remember to minimise your glass waste by Reduce and Reuse.