Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Food Waste Segregation by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment

Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Food Waste Segregation by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment

Mr Leong Mun Wai: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment whether the Ministry has any plans to introduce a three-bin system to further separate compostables from recyclables and trash so that incinerated organic food waste will not continue to contribute to Semakau Landfill, which is projected to reach capacity by 2035.

Answer:

1 The Resource Sustainability Act was introduced in 2019 to address the three priority waste streams, including food waste. Large commercial and industrial food waste generators, including hotels, shopping malls, and food manufacturers, will be required to segregate food waste for treatment, and submit food waste reports to the National Environment Agency. These requirements, which will be implemented for new buildings from 1 Jan 2024, help ensure that food waste from large food waste generators is diverted for treatment or converted into useful products, such as compost and animal feed, instead of being incinerated. We have also piloted the use of segregated food waste to generate biogas to boost electricity generation. This will be scaled up at Tuas Nexus, which is expected to commence operations in phases from 2026 onwards.

2 Currently, while we do not have plans to require households to segregate their food waste, we continue to support ground-up initiatives to manage food waste in the community.