Contamination Rate of Recyclable Waste After Adoption of New Blue Recycling Bins
Ministry of Sustainability and the EnvironmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the contamination rate and collection frequency of recyclable waste following the adoption of new side-loader blue recycling bins. Ms Hany Soh inquired if these bins reduced contamination and whether the National Environment Agency (NEA) would increase collection frequency in residential estates. Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien clarified that side-loading bins were introduced to improve capacity and productivity rather than specifically to reduce contamination levels. She noted that HDB collection frequency has increased since 2020 and mentioned that the NEA is working with waste collectors to target high-recycling areas for more frequent collections. The Minister highlighted that contamination remains a challenge and pointed to the Recycle Right Campaign as a key educational initiative to improve community recycling habits.
Transcript
49 Ms Hany Soh asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) apart from improving the productivity and efficiency of recyclable items collected, whether NEA has conducted any studies to understand if the contamination rate of recyclable waste has indeed been reduced with the adoption of the new side-loader truck blue recycling bins; and (b) whether NEA will consider increasing the collection frequency of recyclables from the blue recycling bins in HDB estates and private landed properties.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Since April 2020, the frequency of recyclables collection for the regular 660-litre recycling bins at the Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates has been increased from one time to at least three times weekly. Side-loading recycling bins with about three times the usual capacity have also been introduced in estates where space allows, with a collection frequency of once a week due to its larger capacity. Recyclables are collected from private landed properties on a weekly basis. We are working with the Public Waste Collectors to deploy resources to collect recyclables more frequently from locations with a higher recycling rate.
The introduction of the side-loading recycling bins was meant to increase bin capacity and improve manpower productivity rather than to reduce contamination rates. We continue to face challenges with the contamination of the recyclables collected in both the regular 660-litre recycling bins and the side-loading recycling bins. Items containing food or liquid waste are sometimes disposed of in recycling bins. Non-recyclable items, such as soft toys and clothing, are also sometimes found in recycling bins. The National Environment Agency (NEA) launched the Recycle Right Campaign and introduced user-friendly educational content to encourage the community to cultivate the right recycling habits. I encourage everyone to do their part and recycle right.