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 infrastructure, which often is underutilised or misused.

The National Recycling Programme (NRP) has been implemented at HDB estates and landed properties since 2001, where residents are given either recycling bags or bins for recyclables, which are collected once every 2 weeks from their doorsteps. With the NRP, households can recycle conveniently and do not even have to walk downstairs to the nearest recycling bin or walk out of their house to the chutes to recycle. Households can also make use of the recycling bins near their flats since there are one set of recycling bins for every five blocks of flats.

For households in condominiums and private apartments, they can recycle through the recycling programme at their residence as it is mandatory from 2008 for all condominiums and private apartments to put in place recycling programmes.

With the existing recycling infrastructure, the NEA should aim to maximise its usage and tweak it to increase recycling, before deciding to implement new laws, place more bins or add more separate chutes system, which is likely to increase business costs and be passed on to the residents.

To make full use of the existing recycling infrastructure, the NEA could study simple and cost-effective ways to “nudge” households and increase recycling participation. In the book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, the authors pointed out two common misconceptions on change, which we can adapt to help increase recycling.

One, “what looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity”. We need to provide crystal-clear direction to the households on the recycling programme. Some questions to ask: Are the households aware or clear about the NRP in terms of why there is a need to have the programme; how the programme works; what items can be recycled; how the collection is done; how frequent is the collection, and where the recyclables end up? Can we appoint volunteer recycling ambassadors or guides to help the residents? Can we use more mass media and social media to explain the recycling programme and spread the message?

Two, “what looks like a people problem is often a situation problem”. We need to make it easier for the households to recycle by tweaking the existing recycling infrastructure. Some questions to ask: How to make it easier for households to remember the recycling dates; identify what items can be recycled; and find the nearest recycling bin? Can we place a reminder on each rubbish bin and chute to remind residents to recycle? Can we provide data for comparing recycling performance for each estate or block? Can we use social media and smartphone apps to remind residents on their recycling collection dates? Can we place better images of recyclables on the recycling bags or bins to show clearly what items are recyclable?

The NEA should study simple and cost-effective ways before implementing new laws, bins or systems whose increased costs could be borne by the residents.

Besides recycling, it is also important to focus more on reduce and reuse. There is a sequence to the widely known 3Rs – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. “Reduce” should always be practised first to minimise or prevent the waste from being generated in the beginning. Next, “Reuse” the generated waste over again for the same or different purpose. Lastly, “Recycle” the waste so that it can be processed and used as a new material. Recycling still involves energy and resources to process the used material, and should be done last.

An edited version was published at ST Forum Online.

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 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 2009, about 6.1 million tonnes of waste was generated in Singapore, and each person generated around 1,230 kg of waste. The recycling rate in Singapore for 2009 is 57% and has been increasing steadily over the years. Based on this rate of increase, there should be no problem in reaching the targeted 60% recycling rate by 2012 set in the Singapore Green Plan 2012, and the targeted 70% recycling rate by 2030 set in the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint.

43% of Singapore’s waste is still disposed, with 41% going to the waste-to-energy plants for incineration and energy recovery, and 2% 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 74% 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. Construction Debris (19%)
3. Ferrous Metal (14%)
4. Plastics (11%)
5. Food Waste (10%)

% Composition of Waste Disposed

The top 3 waste types make up 68% of the total waste disposed in Singapore:

1. Plastics (24%)
2. Paper/Cardboard (24%)
3. Food Waste (20%)

% Composition of Waste Recycled

The top 3 waste types make up 72% of the total waste recycled in Singapore:

1. Construction Debris (33%)
2. Ferrous Metal (23%)
3. Paper/Cardboard (16%)

Recycling Rate of Waste

For the 3 common types of waste disposed, their recycling rate is still low:

• Plastics (9%)
• Food Waste (13%)
• Paper/Cardboard (48%)

More efforts are needed to reduce the amount of paper, plastics and food waste disposed and to increase their recycling rates. Half of the paper and cardboard waste generated still ends up being burned.

Waste Statistics from 2000 to 2009

From 2000 to 2009, the waste disposed has dropped by 6% and the waste recycled has increased by a massive 88%. However, the total waste generated has increased 31% from 4.6 million tonnes in 2000 to 6.1 million tonnes in 2009.

The waste data show that the efforts of the government in promoting waste minimisation and recycling has paid off. However, 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.

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, magazines, etc.

To be frank, we don’t have all the answers. To us, all items can be recycled technically. But whether the items actually get collected for recycling depends on the National Environment Agency (NEA), the recycling collectors and the market for the recyclables. Some collection companies do not collect certain items as there are only small quantities, whereas other items are not collected because there is no market for them.

We think the best way to answer your enquiries is to start a new initiative called Can Recycle? If you’re not sure whether an item can be recycled, take a photo of the item (please try to keep each photo below 200 KB) and post the photo on our Facebook page. Write Can Recycle? in the title and a brief description of the item.

We will consolidate the enquiries each month and check with NEA on whether the items can be recycled. We will also create a Can Recycle? section on our website, which serves as a database where you an check what items can be recycled.

Next time when you’re wondering: Can Recycle? Remember to take a photo of the item and post it on Facebook. We will do our best to check and give you an answer.

$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 is an initiative to build up technological competencies in waste management and to support a growing ecosystem of companies and researchers undertaking Clean Environment Research and Development (R&D). It will provide funding support for Singapore-based companies, research institutes (RIs) and Institute of Higher Learning (IHLs) to develop, pilot and commercialise advanced technologies for waste management. Through ETRP, the Ministry hopes to catalyse and incubate indigenous, sustainable and cost-efficient waste management solutions that are not only applicable locally but can also be exported to other cities facing similar waste challenges. 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 reduction, let’s take a look at the recycling rate of the different waste in 2008.

As mentioned in Part Two, the waste quantity of construction debris and ferrous metal being recycled are high. The recycling rate is 98% for construction debris and 94% for ferrous metal.

On the other hand, the recycling rate for plastics (9%) and food waste (12%) is much lower. The recycling rate for paper/cardboard is 48%, which means that half of the paper and cardboard waste generated ends up being burned in the incineration plants.

Clearly, more effort need to be put in to first reduce the waste output of Food Waste, Paper/Cardboard and Plastics, and then to recycle them when they are generated as waste.

Let’s look at some local and overseas campaigns and projects to find opportunities for waste reduction.

Love Food Hate Waste

The Love Food Hate Waste campaign in the UK aims to:

raise awareness of the need to reduce food waste. The campaign shows that by doing some easy practical everyday things in the home we can all waste less food, which will ultimately benefit our purses and the environment too.

The website is a fun and interactive platform to learn about food waste and how to reduce them. It includes a Portion Calculator that shows you how much to cook depending on the number of people, and ways to measure it. There’s also a 2-week menu, recipes for cooking leftover, and food storage tips.

Food for All

Food for All is a youth initiative dedicated to food-related issues in Singapore.

Food for All’s mission is to encourage conversations amongst various stakeholders in the food industry – producers, consumers and everyone in between – in order to achieve the aim of creating an equitable and sustainable food system in Singapore and beyond.

Their recent Food Report 2008 gives an excellent summary on the issues of hunger, agriculture, food security, ethical food, and nutrition in Singapore. The report also looks at the gaps within the local food system requiring both immediate and long-term action.

Opportunities for Food Waste Reduction

We need a more holistic approach to reducing food waste in Singapore, and go beyond the current recycling of food waste after it has been generated. We can learn from the Love Food Hate Waste campaign on reducing food waste due to preparation, and also from Food for All’s report, which has good suggestions such as implementing Food Banks and food distribution systems.

To reduce food waste, we should look at the different food stages:

1. Food Production (ensure that enough food is grown or imported, and that there are no excess wastage during transportation and  storage)
2. Food Preparation (prevent food wastage through proper storage, good cooking habits, and sufficient food portions)
3. Food Consumption (change eating habits and buy enough food to prevent wastage)
4. Food Distribution (sell or give unsold or soon-to-be expired food and products to the needy)
5. Food Reuse and Recycling (encourage food waste composting, or producing enzyme, and biogas generation using anaerobic digestion)

The different government agencies such as NEA, AVA, HPB and CDCs should also work together to coordinate programmes and campaigns to reduce food waste.

To be continued, watch out for Part Four.

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