Recycling at Commercial Buildings and Industrial Estates

General waste from commercial and industrial premises are collected by licensed general waste collectors and sent to the incineration plants or landfill. For commercial buildings and industrial estates with recycling programmes, recycling bins or skips are placed at certain locations and the recyclables are collected by a recycling collector (usually the recycling service is provided by the same general waste collector). It is not mandatory for commercial buildings and industrial estates to have recycling programmes.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has worked with the JTC Corporation to implement recycling programmes for JTC industrial estates. NEA has also published the Guidebook on Waste Minimisation for Industries to help companies reduce their waste and practise recycling through a waste minimisation plan, tips and case studies. The guidebook is available for download at the NEA website.

Recycling at Schools

Recycling programmes are common in our schools (preschools, primary, secondary and tertiary levels). Recycling bins and recyclables collection are usually provided for free by the public waste collectors who are also in charge of collecting waste from the schools.

Under the 3R Programme for Preschools, children in kindergartens and childcare centers can deposit their recyclables in nearby centralised recycling bins or in recycling bags. There are also fun educational activities for the children to learn more about the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle).

For primary and secondary schools, there is usually a Recycling Corner where students can use the recycling bins and learn more about recycling through the educational materials placed there. Check out the Recycling Corner at Telok Kurau Secondary School and Dunman Secondary School.

For tertiary schools, there are usually several sets of recycling bins placed at strategic locations throughout the campus. For example, there are about 18 sets of recycling bins placed at different locations in the National University of Singapore.

If there are no recycling programme in your school, send a request to your school administration to increase awareness on recycling and install recycling bins. For more information and help on recycling in schools, you can check with the National Environment Agency's Resource Conservation Department.

Recycling at Condominiums and Private Apartments

Condominiums and private apartments are not covered under the National Recycling Programme (NRP). But the National Environment Agency (NEA) are working with the Managing Agents and Management Councils of the condominiums and private apartments to introduce recycling programmes. Similar to the National Recycling Programme, recycling bags would be given to residents for their recyclables or recycling bins would be placed at selected locations.

As of Dec 2007, there are 353 condominiums and private apartments with recycling programmes. Recently, the ministry has also announced that it will make it mandatory to have recycling facilities in condominiums and private apartments. This mean that soon all the residential premises (HDB estates, landed properties, condominiums and private apartments) in Singapore will have some form of recycling programme and all residents have the opportunity to recycle.

Recycling at Home through the National Recycling Programme

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has implemented the National Recycling Programme (NRP) since 2001, where recycling bags or bins are given to residents living in HDB housing estates and landed properties. These recycling bags and bins are provided by appointed recycling contractors and the recyclables are collected fortnightly under the NRP.

You can make use of the recycling programme to recycle items such as paper, plastic and glass bottles, metal cans and old clothing, instead of throwing them away.

In addition, there are recycling bins placed at housing estates (one set of recycling bins placed for every five blocks), and also public recycling bins placed at train stations and high traffic locations. Check out the locations of the nearest recycling bins at the NEA website.

With all these recycling programmes and facilities in place, it’s easy to recycle and there’s no more excuses not to.

Images source: NRP brochure.