Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Extended Producer Responsibility

Question:

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether existing or proposed Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks include an eco-modulated fees or other financial incentives to reward producers who design products for durability, repairability, and high recyclability, rather than focusing solely on the volume of downstream collection and disposal.

Answer:

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks place the responsibility and cost of managing the end-of-life treatment of products upstream on the producers. Singapore's EPR frameworks require products at their end of-life to be properly recycled. However, as Singapore's domestic market is small and most products sold and consumed in Singapore are manufactured overseas for multiple markets, manufacturers are unlikely to adjust their product designs specifically to meet Singapore's needs.

Hence, in addition to our EPR schemes, the Government provides support for targeted eco-design and circular economy outcomes through funding and partnership programmes to help local businesses and the community innovate and adopt environmentally sustainable practices. For example, companies pursuing redesign locally to facilitate circularity can apply for support from funding sources such as the 3R Fund.

We will continue to work with industry stakeholders to promote eco-design alongside other circular economy practices to reduce waste disposed of.