What it takes to boost household recycling rates in Singapore

Only 13 per cent of household waste was recycled in Singapore in 2021, a rate that remained unchanged from 2020, which was a 10-year low. Skiptomaincontent Advertisement Advertisement WhatittakestoboosthouseholdrecyclingratesinSingapore Only13percentofhouseholdwastewasrecycledinSingaporein2021,aratethatremainedunchangedfrom2020,whichwasa10-yearlow.Whiletheabsoluteamountofwasterecycledincreasedin2021,theabsoluteamountofwastegeneratedalsoincreased,resultinginastagnationofthehouseholdrecyclingrate. NickFewings/Unsplash Themainreasonthatrecyclingratesremainlowiscontaminationatsource,wheretherecyclablesaremixedtogetherandnotseparatedfurtherintoglass,aluminium,paperandplastic. By KavickumarMuruganathan By KavickumarMuruganathan PublishedMay5,2022 UpdatedMay9,2022 Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Only13percentofhouseholdwastewasrecycledinSingaporein2021,aratethatremainedunchangedfrom2020,whichwasa10-yearlow.Whiletheabsoluteamountofwasterecycledincreasedin2021,theabsoluteamountofwastegeneratedalsoincreased,resultinginastagnationofthehouseholdrecyclingrate. 2020wasseenasananomalyasthepandemiccausedapauseinthecollectionofhouseholdrecyclablesthatresumedonlyinthelaterpartoftheyear.In2019,beforethepandemic,therecyclingrateofhouseholdwastewas17percent. 2021wasexpectedtoresultinahigherhouseholdrecyclingrate.Butthathasnotbeenthecase.SowhathaskeptSingapore’shouseholdrecyclingratessolow? Theprimaryreasoniscontaminationatsource. Whiletheubiquitousbluerecyclingbinsinpublichousingestateshave“RecycleRight”liverytoindicatewhatcanberecycled,consumedfoodpackagesandsoiledsheetsstillendupinthebins. Eventhoughsomeresidentsdropofftheirrecyclablescorrectlyinthebins,theyfailtotaketheadditionalstepofwashinganddecontaminatingthem.Thiscontaminatestheothercleanrecyclablesinthebins,makingtheentirebatchnon-recyclable. Moreover,therecyclablesaremixedtogetherandnotseparatedfurtherintoglass,aluminium,paperandplastic. SembWaste,oneofthreepublicwastecollectorsinSingapore,estimatesthat60percentofmaterialcomingfromrecyclingbinsintoitssortingfacilitycannotberecycledbecauseofcontaminationandtheinclusionofnon-recyclables. Itwouldbecrucialfortheauthoritiesandthestakeholdersinvolvedtohaveabetterunderstandingoftheproportionofnon-recyclablesandtheamountofrecyclablesthatarecontaminated. Thekeytoincreasinghouseholdrecyclingratesistopreventcontaminationandenhanceseparationatsource. Householdwasteseparationanddisposalpatternshavetobebetteranalysedtotacklehowcontaminationatsourcecanbeprevented. Theanalysiswillprovideinsightsastowhetherrecyclablesshouldbeplacedinnon-comingledbinsormoreeffortsarerequiredtowardseducationondecontaminationandsourceseparation. Collectorsof recyclablesrequireeconomiesofscaletobemettoensureitmakesfinancialsenseforthemtoberecycled,especiallyformaterialsuchasplasticbottlesthatneedtobeexportedtoothermarketsforrecycling. AkeyfeatureinSingapore’shouseholdwastemanagementsystemisthedecentralisedrefusebins. HousingandDevelopmentBoard(HDB)householdshavetheconvenienceofdisposingoftheirwastewithinorjustoutsidetheirhouseholds. LandedhouseholdshavebinsoutsidetheirhomesbuttheirnumberspaleincomparisontoHDBdwellers. InotherterritoriessuchasTaiwanandSouthKorea,householdshavetotaketheirwasteandrecyclablesoutoftheirhomestocentralcommunalbins. Thesebinsaresegregatedfordifferenttypesofrecyclablesandnon-recyclables.Thesesystemshaveprovedsuccessfulandhaveresultedinhighhouseholdrecyclingratesofabove50percentinthesecountries. Whilethisisanapproachthatcanbeconsideredheretoboosthouseholdrecyclingrates,itwouldrequireanupheavalofthecurrenthouseholdwastemanagementinfrastructurewhichwillbeacostlypropositionandrequiresamajorculturalreset. Segregatedbinsforplastic,glass,metalandgeneralwastewouldcostmoreandtakeupmorespaceespeciallygiventhescarcityoflandanddensityofhouseholds.  Toimproverecyclingrates,theNationalEnvironmentAgencyhassaidthatitwillpartnerpublicwastecollectorstodistributerecyclingbinstoeachhouseholdtoincreasetheconvenienceofrecycling. Whethertheseeffortswillbearfruitremainstobeseen. Thesebinsshouldhelphouseholdstorecycleintheconvenienceoftheirhomesandthisshouldensuremorerecyclablesdivertedfromrefusechutes.Ifhouseholdsdiligentlyplacerecyclablesinthesebins,thenweshouldseeanuptickinhouseholdrecyclingrates. PublicwastecollectorssuchasSembWastehaveadoptedtechnologyintheireffortstoenhancehouseholdrecycling.Itsezimobileapplicationallowsfordoorstepcollectionofrecyclablesbuttheseeffortsrequirewideradoptiontocreatechangeatscale. Moreadvocacyandawarenessshouldberaisedonthisnovelinitiativetoscaleitsadoptionamonghouseholds. HOWABOUTREGULATORYCHANGES? RegulatorypolicyseemstobeanavenuethatwoulddriveimprovementinhouseholdrecyclingratesinSingapore. Itisexpectedthatby2025,Singaporewillhaveextendedproducerresponsibility(EPR)lawsinplacenotonlyforelectronicwastebutalsopackagingwaste. Thismakescorporationsresponsibleforthecollection,disposalandtreatmentoftheirproductsoncetheyhavebeenused. Thiswillreducetheamountofwastedestinedforincinerationandsubsequentlyforlandfilling.Thiswillalsohaveaprofoundeffectonhouseholdrecyclingratesasbusinesseswillhavetoputinplacemeasuressuchasproducttakebacksandincentivisationtoensurepost-consumerwasteiscollectedbackforrecycling. EPRlegislationhasprovedsuccessfulinboostingrecyclingratesinmanycountries. ProgrammestosupportEPRlegislationinFrance,GermanyandItalyhaveincreasedrecyclingrates. InFrance,EPRlegislationwaspassedin1975andappliedtohouseholdsin1992.Sincethen,recyclingratesforhouseholdpackagingwasteincreasedfromalowof18percentin1992to70percentin2020. WecouldexpecthouseholdrecyclingratesinSingaporetowitnessasimilargrowthtrendonceEPRlegislationcomesintoplayby2025. Whilewastemanagementisacrucialaspectinenhancingrecyclingrates,thedesignofproductsplaysanevenbiggerrole.Productsthataredesignedforrecyclingstandabetterchancetoberecyclersbyconsumers. Withthatinmind,eco-modulationwillhavetocomeintoplay.Eco-modulationreferstotheconceptofpenalisingtheuseofmaterialsthatarelessenvironmentallyfriendlyandrewardingtheuseofmaterialswhicharebetterfortheenvironment. Thesecanbedonebychargingahighertaxrateforproductsthatarehardertorecycleandreducedfeeratesformaterialswhichareeasiertorecycle. Eco-modulationfeesarealreadyinplaceinseveralcountriesinEurope. Forinstance,inPortugal,eco-modulationfeeswereintroducedin2019.Packagingmaterialthatmakestheprocessofrecyclingharder,suchasPETbottleswithPVClabels,werepenalisedwithadditionalfees. Asaruleofthumb,themorecomplexthetypeofpackagingisforrecycling,thehigherthefeestobepaid. Thiswillbeespeciallycrucialgiventheboomofe-commerce.Globally,itisestimatedthate-commerceplasticpackagingusewillamountto2.25milliontonnesby2025. E-commercegeneratestremendousvolumesofmaterialthatishardtorecycle.Thisincludesshrinkwrap,bubblewrap,shippingpillowsandpolystyrenefoam. Theintroductionofeco-modulationfeescandrivethereductionofhard-to-recycleplasticandincreaserecyclingrates. IfSingaporeweretoachieveitsgoalofattainingits30percenthouseholdrecyclingrateby2030,awidevarietyofsolutionshastobeexplored.Existingmeasuresareyettoprovethemselvescapableofmeetingthetarget. Withalittleovereightyearsleft,thecurrenthouseholdrecyclingratewouldhavetomorethandouble. Existingmeasuresshouldworkhandinhandandcomplementnewmeasuresthataretobeinstitutedwithpolicybeinganoverarchinglevertosupportourrecyclingambitions.   ABOUTTHEAUTHOR: KavickumarMuruganathanisasustainabilityprofessionalandpart-timelectureratNationalUniversityofSingaporeonenvironmentaleconomicsandsustainabledevelopment.  Relatedtopics recycling sustainability waste Readmoreofthelatestin Commentary Explorenow Advertisement Popular Contentisloading... Advertisement Stayintheknow.Anytime.Anywhere. Subscribetogetdailynewsupdates,insightsandmustreadsdeliveredstraighttoyourinbox. Byclickingsubscribe,IagreeformypersonaldatatobeusedtosendmeTODAYnewsletters,promotionaloffersandforresearchandanalysis. READTHEFULLSTORY RecentSearches Thisbrowserisnolongersupported Weknowit'sahassletoswitchbrowsersbutwewantyourexperiencewithTODAYtobefast,secureandthebestitcanpossiblybe. 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