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Waste Management


Waste Collection

The public waste collection in Singapore is divided into nine sectors managed by four licensed Public Waste Collectors (PWCs) as shown below.

The PWCs are responsible for the collection of waste from residential and trade premises in Singapore. They are also required to provide recycling services under the National Recycling Programme (NRP). For commercial and industrial premises, the waste are collected separately by licensed general waste collectors.

Waste Disposal

The waste collected by the PWCs and general waste collectors are disposed of at the four incineration plants (Tuas, Tuas South, Senoko and Ulu Pandan) and the offshore Semakau Landfill. Waste that are incinerable are sent to the incineration plants while non-incinerable waste and incineration ashes are sent to the landfill. About 90% of waste are incinerated and 10% are landfilled.

In 2008, about 2.63 million tonnes of waste was disposed – 57% was generated from residential premises, food centres and markets; and 43% was generated from commercial and industrial premises. Each person generated about 0.84 kg of domestic waste per day.

Watch a short video on the Semakau Landfill:

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Waste Recycling

Waste that are not disposed of are sent for recycling. In 2008, about 3.3 million tonnes of waste was recycled and an overall recycling rate of 56% was achieved. The quantity and recycling rate for each type of waste are shown in the table below:

2008-waste-statistics

Watch this video to learn about waste management from SULO (now known as Veolia ES):

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Image source: NEA.

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Comments

4 Comments on "Waste Management"

  1. hedley on Thu, 1st Jul 2010 12:35 pm 

    Hi

    I have 2 pieces of old 3 seater sofas at home i need to dispose of. I live in a landed property. I am from overseas and I have no idea how i can responsibly dispose of them in Singapore. In England there are public disposal areas where you can drive down and dump your unwanted house hold items, is there anything like that in Singapore? Or is the only way to pay the local trash disposal company a fortune to send someone in a truck? I think I was quoted about $250. I think I might just breeak them up and burn them if that is the case.

    any advice would be most welcome.

    thanks

    hedley

  2. Eugene on Thu, 1st Jul 2010 2:43 pm 

    If it’s still in good condition, try the organisations at http://www.zerowastesg.com/2008/12/08/give-it-away/

  3. Kelvin Teo on Sat, 7th Aug 2010 9:52 pm 

    Hi,

    I’m always wondering where do all the waste from HDB rubbish chute goes to after collected? Where do the rubbish truck vehicles send all the waste to? And what is the process of removing the waste? Anyone can enlighten me or let me know the process? Any website / diagram on the process?

    Thanks

  4. Eugene on Mon, 16th Aug 2010 12:48 pm 

    Hi Kelvin, the waste collected by the trucks go to the incineration plants

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