Water and Energy Efficiency Labels

Mr Yaw Shin Leong asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in respect of PUB's Water Efficiency Label and NEA's Energy Label and Fuel Economy Label (a) whether these green labels have been effective in influencing consumer choice for more environmentally-friendly products; (b) whether the relevant agencies have monitoring mechanisms in place to evaluate the effectiveness of the labels; (c) what are the plans to improve the effectiveness of the labels; (d) beyond labelling, what other initiatives have been undertaken to encourage the consumption of more environmentally-friendly products by the public.

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Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: The Government uses green labelling to provide information and raise public awareness, thereby influencing consumer choice towards more environmentally friendly products.

PUB's Mandatory Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme (MWELS), NEA's Mandatory Energy Labelling Scheme (MELS) and Fuel Economy Labelling Scheme (FELS) are schemes that respectively provide water, energy and fuel efficiency information to consumers to encourage better-informed purchasing decisions that take into account the operating costs when household appliances and cars are purchased.

These labelling schemes have so far been effective in leading consumers to choose more water and energy efficient appliances. For instance, the share of water efficient water fittings (models that attained 1-tick or more) registered under MWELS has increased from 850 models by almost eight times to 6,600 models as of November 2011, since its introduction in 2009. 75% of the 331 washing machine models registered under MWELS possess a water efficiency rating of 1-tick and above. The share of energy efficient refrigerator and air-conditioner models (3- and 4-tick models) registered under MELS have also increased from 46% to 79% and 30% to 57% respectively from 2008 to 2011.

From the recent public consultation exercise on climate change-related issues led by the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS), a number of suggestions have been received on improvements to existing energy labels. One of the suggestions was to include the estimated energy cost of operating the appliance. NEA is reviewing the design of the energy labels and will look into incorporating this cost into the energy labels in a way that balances between providing timely and accurate information, and the associated costs to suppliers and retailers when these energy labels have to be updated when household electricity tariffs change.

Green labelling has also been effective as a step towards the mandating of performance standards. After introducing the MELS in 2009, NEA subsequently implemented the Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for household air-conditioners and refrigerators on 1 September 2011. MEPS remove the most inefficient models from the market by prohibiting the sale of appliances that fall short of a specified minimum energy efficiency level. They help consumers avoid being locked into the high operating cost of inefficient appliances. MEPS also encourage suppliers to bring in more energy efficient appliances as technology improves.

For vehicles, FELS has been complemented by the Green Vehicle Rebate (GVR) scheme. The scheme aims to encourage the purchase of green vehicles, which are more fuel efficient and emit less air pollutants than their conventional equivalents, by narrowing the cost differential between a green vehicle and a conventional equivalent model. The GVR scheme provides rebates for electric, petrol-electric hybrid and CNG vehicles and is valid until 31 December 2012. The Government is currently undertaking a review of measures to promote the adoption of green vehicles, as part of efforts to promote sustainable development and reduce emissions. More details will be announced in due course.

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Besides targeting the greater use of efficient products, PUB and NEA also shape consumer behaviour towards resource conservation through campaigns such as the 10-Litre Challenge for water and the 10% Energy Challenge. Roadshows, media publicity, a website and brochures are part of the campaign to raise public awareness, and encourage the public to choose water and energy efficient appliances and adopt water and energy efficient practices.

In implementing these various measures, the Government has taken into consideration the success of similar practices in many other countries such as the US, EU states, Australia and Japan. The pace of implementation has been established through extensive consultations with stakeholders to ensure that they understand the objectives and that there is smooth implementation with no supply disruptions.

Beyond Government actions, the community and industry will have to do their part for Singapore to achieve a higher level of environmentally friendly consumption. Ground-up programmes such as the "Simple Ways I Take to Change my Habits" (S.W.I.T.C.H) programme by the Central Singapore CDC and the "Environment & Community Plan" (ECo Plan) by the South West CDC bring the community and corporations together to improve energy and water efficiency. An example of an initiative under these programmes is the light bulb exchange programme, where volunteers help replace the light bulbs in the homes of low-income families with energy efficient ones. Such ground-up initiatives by the community and the corporations help raise environmental consciousness and promote resource conservation, and we encourage more of these.