Monday, March 31, 2008

Waste Management and Recycling in Singapore


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

  1. Pasir Ris-Tampines; Bedok; Tanglin-Bukit Merah (by Altvater Jakob Pte Ltd)

  2. Jurong (by Colex Holdings Ltd)

  3. Clementi; City; Hougang-Punggol; Woodlands-Yishun (by SembWaste Pte Ltd)

  4. Ang Mo Kio-Toa Payoh (by 800 Super Waste Management Pte Ltd)

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.

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 2007, about 2.57 million tonnes of waste was disposed - 58% was generated from residential premises, food centres and markets; and 42% was generated from commercial and industrial premises. Each person generated about 0.88 kg of domestic waste per day.

Waste that are not disposed of are sent for recycling. In 2007, about 3.03 million tonnes of waste was recycled and an overall recycling rate of 54% was achieved. The quantity and recycling rate for each type of waste are shown in the table below:


Image credit: pakalakamino. Table source: National Environment Agency.

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