Written Reply to Parliamentary Questions on Recycling

Questions:

To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether the Ministry can provide an update on the measures taken to promote recycling and increase the domestic recycling rate within businesses and residential areas in Singapore; and (b) whether NEA can consider co-locating various recycling bins for textile, e-waste, paper and recyclable plastic products, in a one-stop recyclables collection centre for convenience of users.

To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment what new measures does the Ministry plan to introduce to boost the paper recycling rate and improve the domestic recycling rate.

To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what strategies will the Ministry take to reduce the contamination of blue recycling bins; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider encouraging recycling upfront, whereby residents pre-sort and clean different types of recyclables before depositing them into recycling bins.

Answer:

1 The Government has worked with businesses and the community to introduce measures and initiatives to promote recycling. Examples include the launch of extended producer responsibility schemes for priority waste streams, progressive implementation of food waste segregation for large commercial and industrial food waste generators, and continued enhancements to our National Recycling Programme, such as by increasing the collection frequency for recyclables. The beverage container return scheme for plastic and metal beverage containers will also be launched next April.

2 Although we have achieved some progress in reducing waste generation, domestic recycling remains a challenge, and we are actively exploring ways to reduce contamination and improve the recycling rate. NEA will press on with public education and outreach efforts, such as the Recycle Right campaign, to improve awareness of proper sorting practices. We are encouraged that community partners such as Public Waste Collectors, non-profit organisations and Town Councils have come forward to trial source-segregated recycling via smart recycling bins, as well as co-locate dedicated recycling bins in malls and HDB void decks. We will continue to review these measures.

3 We are also looking at strengthening support for paper recycling, and will share more details when ready.