@ green | July-August , 2022

Recyclables are not separated into glass , aluminium , paper and plastic

BY KAVICKUMAR MURUGANATHAN

While the absolute amount of waste recycled increased in 2021 , the total amount of waste generated also increased , resulting in a stagnation of the household recycling rate .

2020 was seen as an anomaly as the pandemic caused a pause in the collection of household recyclables that resumed only later in the year .

2021 was expected to result in a higher household recycling rate . But that has not been the case . So what has kept Singapore ’ s household recycling rates so low ?

The primary reason is contamination at the source .

While the ubiquitous blue recycling bins in public housing estates have a “ RECYCLE RIGHT ” livery to indicate what can be recycled , consumed food packages and soiled sheets still end up in the bins .

While some residents drop off their recyclables correctly in the bins , they fail to take an additional step to wash and decontaminate them . This decontaminates the other clean recyclables in the bins , making the entire batch non-recyclable .

Moreover , the recyclables are mixed and not separated into glass , aluminium , paper and plastic .

SembWaste , one of three public waste collectors in Singapore , estimates that 60 per cent of material coming from recycling bins into its sorting facility cannot be recycled because of contamination and the inclusion of non-recyclables .

It would be crucial for the National Environment Agency ( NEA ) to understand the proportion of non-recyclables and the number of contaminated recyclables .

The key to increasing household recycling rates is to prevent contamination and enhance separation at the source .

Household waste separation and disposal patterns must be better analysed to tackle how contamination at the source can be prevented . The analysis will provide insights as to whether recyclables should be placed in non-comingled bins or more efforts are required towards education on decontamination and source separation .

Collectors of recyclables require economies of scale to be met to ensure it makes financial sense for them to be recycled , especially for materials such as plastic bottles that need to be exported to other markets for recycling .

The decentralised refuse bins are vital features in Singapore ’ s household waste management system . Housing and Development Board households can conveniently dispose of their waste within or outside their households .

Landed households have bins outside their homes , but their numbers pale compared to HDB dwellers .

In other countries such as Taiwan and South Korea , households must bring their waste and recyclables out of their homes to central communal bins .

These bins are segregated for different types of recyclables and non-recyclables . These systems have proved successful and have resulted in high household recycling rates of above 50 per cent in these countries .

While this approach can be considered to boost household recycling rates , it would require an upheaval of the current household waste management infrastructure , which will be costly and need a significant cultural reset .

Segregated bins for plastic , glass , metal and general waste will cost more and take up more space , especially when land is scarce , and households are highly dense

To improve recycling rates , the NEA has said that it will partner with public waste collectors to distribute recycling bins to each household to increase the convenience of recycling .

Whether these efforts will bear fruit , remain to be seen . These bins should allow households to recycle at the convenience of their homes and ensure more recyclables are diverted from refuse chutes . If households diligently place recyclables in these bins , we should see an uptick in household recycling rates .

Public waste collectors

Public waste collectors like SembWaste have adopted technology to enhance household recycling . Its ezi mobile application allows for doorstep collection of recyclables , but these efforts require wider adoption to create change at scale . This novel initiative should raise more advocacy and awareness to scale its adoption among households .

The regulatory policy seems to be an avenue to improve household recycling rates in Singapore . It is expected that by 2025 , Singapore will have extended producer responsibility ( EPR ) laws in place for electronic waste and packaging waste .

This makes corporates responsible for the collection , disposal and treatment of their products once they have been used . It will reduce the amount of waste destined for incineration and landfilling .

This will also profoundly affect household recycling rates as corporates will have to implement measures such as product takebacks and incentivisation to ensure post-consumer waste is collected back for recycling .

EPR legislation has proved successful in boosting recycling rates in many countries . Programmes to support EPR legislation in France , Germany and Italy have increased recycling rates . In France , EPR legislation was passed in 1975 and applied to households in 1992 .

Since then , recycling rates for household packaging waste increased from a low of 18 per cent in 1992 to 70 per cent in 2020 . We could expect household recycling rates in Singapore to witness a similar growth trend once EPR legislation comes into play by 2025 .

While waste management is a crucial aspect of enhancing recycling rates , the design of products plays an even bigger role . Products designed for recycling stand a better chance to be recyclers by consumers .

With that in mind , eco-modulation will have to come into play . Eco-modulation refers to penalising the use of less environmentally friendly materials and rewarding the use of materials that are better for the environment .

Charging a higher tax rate

These can be done by charging a higher tax rate for products that are harder to recycle and reduced fee rates for materials which are more accessible to the recycler . Eco-modulation fees are already in place in several countries in Europe .

For instance , in Portugal , eco-modulation fees were introduced in 2019 . The packaging material that makes recycling harder , such as PET bottles with PVC labels , was penalised with additional fees .

As a rule of thumb , the more complex the type of packaging is for recycling , the higher the fees to be paid . It will be especially crucial given the boom of e-commerce . Globally , it is estimated that e-commerce plastic packaging use will amount to 2.25 million tonnes by 2025 . E-commerce generates tremendous volumes of material that are hard to recycle .

These include shrink wraps , bubble wraps , shipping pillows and polystyrene foam . The introduction of eco-modulation fees can drive the reduction of hard-torecycle plastic and increase recycling rates .

If Singapore were to attain its 30 per cent household recycling rate by 2030 , a wide variety of solutions must be explored . Existing measures are yet to prove themselves capable of meeting the target .

With a little over eight years left , the current household recycling rate would have to more than double . Existing measures should work hand in hand and complement new efforts to be instituted , with policy being an overarching lever to support our recycling ambitions . — @ Green

Kavickumar Muruganathan is a sustainability professional & part-time lecturer at National University of Singapore on environmental economics and sustainable development