Towards Zero Waste

Sustainable Living: Accelerating efforts to reduce waste

In an increasingly carbon- and resource-constrained world, we must continue to reduce, reuse and recycle our resources, and pursue circular economy approaches. We will frontload our waste reduction efforts over the next five years, to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill per capita per day by 20 per cent by 2026. This will accelerate progress towards the 30 per cent reduction target by 2030, as outlined in our Zero Waste Masterplan.

As part of efforts to address packaging waste, including plastics, we will introduce the legislative framework for a Deposit Refund Scheme (DRS) by 2022. NEA will continue to engage the community and industry when designing and implementing the DRS framework. Preliminary findings from NEA’s and Shell’s joint feasibility study indicate that chemical recycling in Singapore is technically feasible, and would result in carbon savings by diverting plastic waste away from incineration. We look forward to the conclusion of the study, which will inform us on the commercial viability of chemical recycling in Singapore. (Download Factsheet)

To address food waste, NEA is exploring a framework for large industrial and commercial (I&C) premises to measure and report the amount of food waste to be segregated for treatment. This will complement requirements for large I&C premises to segregate food waste for treatment. NEA will commence industry consultations in the second quarter of 2021. (Download Factsheet)

To address electrical and electronic waste (e-waste), we will implement an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for e-waste in July 2021. NEA appointed a Producer Responsibility Scheme (PRS) Operator for e-waste in February this year, and is working with the operator to set up the collection network. Residents can look forward to more avenues to recycle their e-waste later this year.