Our Waste Challenge

In Singapore, the amount of waste disposed has increased about five-fold over the past 38 years, from 0.5 million tonnes in 1970 to 2.6 million tonnes in 2008. Each person generated about 0.84 kg of domestic waste per day in 2008.

If this continues, the projected lifespan of our Semakau Landfill would be about 35 to 40 years, and additional incineration plants would have to be built every 7 to 10 years.

This poses a challenge as it is difficult to find land for the construction of new incineration plants and landfills in land-scarce Singapore.

In addition, high cost is involved in the construction of new waste disposal facilities. The construction cost is about $1.8 billion for our four existing incineration plants and $610 million for Semakau Landfill.

More importantly, the real challenge is whether we can change our current unsustainable materials economy and resource use, which follows a extract-produce-distribute-consume-dispose linear model.

This unsustainable model uses natural and energy resources to produce goods and stuff, which are consumed and disposed of as waste, resulting in economic losses and environmental degradation.

According to the Living Planet Report 2008:

Humanity’s demand on the planet’s living resources, its Ecological Footprint, now exceeds the planet’s regenerative capacity by about 30 per cent. This global overshoot is growing and, as a consequence, ecosystems are being run down and waste is accumulating in the air, land and water. The resulting deforestation, water shortages, declining biodiversity and climate change are putting the well-being and development of all nations at increasing risk.

If we continue with business as usual, by the early 2030s we will need two planets to keep up with humanity’s demand for goods and services. But there are many effective ways to change course.

If humanity has the will, it has the way to live within the means of the planet, while securing human well-being and the ecosystems on which this depends.

For a better understanding of the materials economy and our waste challenge, watch The Story of Stuff below. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute film by Annie Leonard, which takes an interesting look at our production and consumption patterns, and the connections between environmental and social issues.

.