Budget 2011: Recycling programme to be enhanced with one bin per HDB block [News]

March 5, 2011 by Eugene Tay
Filed under News

Singapore will enhance its National Recycling Programme (NRP) by providing one recycling bin for every HDB block with daily collection.

This is an increase from the previous rate of one bin for every five blocks of HDB flats.

On average, a resident in Singapore generates 860 grammes of waste every day – which is one third more than in Germany or Taiwan.

Over a year, Singapore can dispose enough waste to cover one eighth of Singapore’s surface area, said Minister for Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim in Parliament on Friday.

To reduce waste and encourage more recycling, “we will make it easier for households to recycle. Households can now look forward to more recycling bins and more frequent collection services,” said Dr Yaacob.

Veolia Environmental Services is the first public waste collector to be awarded the contract under the enhanced NRP, which aims to boost recycling rates from the current 58 per cent.

It will provide 660-litre bins for all 1,200 HDB blocks in the Pasir Ris-Tampines sector in July. The bins will be emptied every day.

It will also provide another 3,000 bins, with a smaller capacity of 120 litres, for every household in landed properties in the Pasir Ris-Tampines sector. Recyclables in these bins will be collected weekly instead of the current fortnightly.

Refuse collection in Singapore has been divided into nine sectors, managed by different public waste collectors.

The trash bins provided by Veolia Environment Services are no ordinary one.

They are retrofitted with Radio-frequency identification (RFID). This can help the public waste collector track the weight and quality of recyclables.

Veolia Environment Services has also retrofitted its rubbish-collecting trucks with RFID and weighing technology.

“We are able to target our outreach programmes more effectively. For example, (if) this particular household or block of estate….(has) contaminated recyclables in a bin, we are able to send out recycling ambassadors and work together with the grassroots network and implement education and awareness programmes,” said Christina Lee, marketing & communication manager at Veolia ES Singapore.

During collection, Veolia Environmental Services will mix all the recyclables.
It will then sort them out at its plant in Tuas. That’s because paper, glass and plastics can be further separated. For example, paper can be further sorted into old corrugated carton, old newspapers and office papers.

Landed property owners in Tanglin and Bukit Merah will get a first taste of the new recycling system in April when the company pilots a programme for the 6,000 households in the area.

Source and Image: Channel NewsAsia