SEPARATE RECYCLING CHUTES IN HDB FLATS

SEPARATE RECYCLING CHUTES IN HDB FLATS

29.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in view of the need to get greater community participation in recycling, (a) what is the outcome of the pilot test project to provide separate chutes at every HDB flat for recyclables; (b) whether the Government will be implementing the project on a wide-scale basis and, if so, what is the schedule for implementation and the estimated cost to the Government; and (c) whether such chutes are included in the design of HDB blocks which are currently under construction.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: Dr Lim Wee Kiak has raised an important point on the need to garner greater community participation in recycling.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has been actively reaching out to the community, including households, schools, corporate and grassroots organizations, to raise awareness of the importance of recycling and inculcate the habit of recycling as part of our daily life.

NEA has also been providing households with convenient access to recycling receptacles. Under the National Recycling Programme (NRP) for HDB and landed estates, residents are provided with recycling bags or bins by the Public Waste Collectors (PWCs) to store their recyclables. These recyclables are then collected door-to-door by the PWCs every fortnight on scheduled days. In addition, about 1,600 sets of centralised recycling receptacles have been installed in all HDB estates last year. Residents who do not wish to wait for the fortnightly collection can deposit their recyclables into these receptacles at their convenience.

We are also amending the Environmental Public Health Act to mandate the provision of recycling receptacles for condominiums and private apartments. The amended Act will come into effect on 1st November 2008. Upon full implementation in 2009, all households in Singapore will have convenient access to recycling receptacles.

In addition to the existing recycling infrastructure for households, NEA and HDB are conducting pilot trials on the installation of separate chutes for recyclables in some HDB blocks. A block of HDB flats in Choa Chu Kang was retrofitted to convert an unused refuse chute into a chute for recyclables.

The trial at Choa Chu Kang has shown that the recycling participation rate of households in the block increased from 67% in December 2006 to 93% in July 2007. The amount of recyclables collected through the separate chute was 850 kg per month, which was more than eight-times higher than the typical amount of recyclables collected from a block of HDB flats (average of 100 kg per month). A survey of the residents showed that most of them are motivated to recycle more waste due to the greater convenience.

Separate chutes for recyclables will also be provided in four new HDB blocks at Fernvale Vista at Seng Kang; at the new eco-precinct Treelodge@Punggol ; and at the first two HDB projects under the new generation public housing in the regenerated Dawson estate. These projects would allow HDB to ascertain the additional costs that come with providing the separate recycling chutes, as well as further assess residents’ receptiveness and monitor the performance of the system, before considering the large-scale implementation of separate recycling chutes.

In the meantime, we encourage residents to make use of the recycling bags or recycling bins provided in HDB estates to recycle waste.