Parliament Q&A
Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Biohazardous Waste by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment
1 February 2021
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Written Reply by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, to Parliamentary Question on Biohazardous Waste
Ms Hany Soh: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) in the past five years, what is the annual amount of biohazardous waste generated in Singapore; (b) how are these waste being disposed; and (c) what are the efforts introduced to reduce biohazardous waste generated in Singapore.
Answer:
The approximate annual amount of biohazardous waste generated and disposed of in Singapore is shown in Table 1 below. On average, it is about 4,800 tonnes a year.
Table 1: Annual amount of biohazardous waste disposed of from 2016 to 2020
Year Biohazardous Waste (tonnes)
2016 4,400
2017 5,100
2018 4,900
2019 4,100
2020 5,700
The National Environment Agency (NEA) regulates the collection and disposal of biohazardous waste under the Environmental Public Health (Toxic Industrial Waste) Regulations. Biohazardous waste must be collected and disposed of by toxic industrial waste collectors that are licensed and regulated by NEA. Such wastes are required to be transported along an approved route within a stipulated time using vehicles that are fully enclosed, before they are incinerated at dedicated treatment facilities.
Most biohazardous waste arises from essential healthcare activities, and comprises materials such as used syringes and other items contaminated with patients’ bodily fluids which are disposed of by hospitals. As such, our focus is to ensure that all biohazardous waste is collected and disposed of safely to safeguard public health.