Additional Costs Incurred by Government and Public Waste Collectors to Transport, Sort and Incinerate Contaminated Recyclables
Ministry of Sustainability and the EnvironmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong’s inquiry into the costs of managing contaminated recyclables and whether the Ministry will transition to estate-level data tracking. Minister Grace Fu Hai Yien clarified that the Government does not incur additional costs as collection and incineration fees are included in Public Waste Collectors’ (PWCs) overall contracts. While PWCs incur variable costs for sorting and incineration, contamination also places additional demand on waste management infrastructure and results in lost recycling revenue. Current sampling is performed on an aggregated basis at Materials Recovery Facilities, though the National Environment Agency is exploring granular data collection for community-specific interventions. Residents are urged to deposit only recyclables in blue bins to support sustainability efforts and minimize operational challenges.
Transcript
66 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what is the estimated additional cost per tonne incurred by the Government and Public Waste Collectors to transport, sort and subsequently incinerate contaminated recyclables from blue bins; and (b) for the tracking contamination rates, whether the Ministry will transit from aggregated national-level data to estate-level data for more targeted, community-specific interventions and accountability.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: The National Environment Agency (NEA) appoints Public Waste Collectors (PWCs) through open tenders to provide refuse and recyclables collection services for domestic and trade premises. The Government does not incur additional cost for the collection and incineration of contaminated recyclables from blue bins as such costs are included in the overall fees paid to the PWC.
However, PWCs do incur additional costs to segregate the recyclables and channel the contaminated recyclables for incineration. These costs will vary depending on each PWC's specific sorting processes and operational efficiency. Contaminated recyclables also contribute to additional demand on our waste management infrastructure and lost potential revenue from recycling.
Currently, sampling for contamination of recyclables is done at the Materials Recovery Facilities on an aggregated basis. NEA will continue to explore ways to strengthen our data collection to provide more targeted, community-specific interventions. We urge all residents to be mindful of depositing only recyclables in our blue bins to make a positive contribution to our sustainability effort.