Recycling Queen

From collecting cans to creating 'green' eyewear, she does her part to save the world
Nur Dianah Suhaimi, Straits Times 26 Jul 08;

Her passion for recycling earned Dr Lee Hui Mien the nicknames 'Recycling Queen' and 'Rubbish Girl'.

But the 28-year-old research engineer at A*Star's Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) is no common tree-hugger.

This year, she created the world's first spectacle frame made almost entirely from recycled materials.

The frame, which looks like any other on the market, is made from recycled industrial waste like plastic and steel.The only parts of the frame that are not recycled are the two small silicon pads which rest on the wearer's nose. They are impossible to recycle.

The recycled spectacle frame made its debut in Milan last May at several optical fashion shows and proved to be an instant hit among the Europeans.

Said Mr Yang Wah Kiang, managing director of Nanyang Optical, the eyewear company which commissioned the project: 'There was overwhelming response. Major eyewear distributors from France, Germany and Italy have already placed their orders.'

The eco-friendly spectacles have also caught the attention of eyewear distributors in the United States, Korea and Taiwan and will be sold in these places soon.

In Singapore, they are already for sale at Nanyang Optical stores, priced from $200.

When Nanyang Optical first approached SIMTech with the idea of creating recycled spectacle frames, Dr Lee was the natural choice to head the project.

Not only was she well-known in the office for her environmentally friendly ways, she was also the only scientist at SIMTech who is well-versed in life cycle engineering.

In life cycle engineering, products manufactured are assessed according to their technical, economical and environmental impact.

Still a PhD student at the time, the project was Dr Lee's first big break. In the beginning, however, success seemed like a distant dream.

First, sourcing for suitable recycled materials was difficult as there were few local recycling centres to shop from.

Once the materials were found, converting them into flawless spectacle frames proved to be another problem.

For Dr Lee, there was the additional pressure to make the recycled spectacles as perfect as possible because 'people always think recycled products are one grade lower'.

One and a half years later, the recycled spectacles were ready. More importantly, they were perfect.

In fact, the spectacles turned out so well that her boss, Dr Song Bin, who is also the head of SIMTech's life cycle engineering programme, was surprised.

'It was not an easy project and it involved working with researchers from many different departments. But Hui Mien did very well,' he said.

Dr Lee, however, refused to take all the credit for her achievement, saying: 'I was fortunate to have a very good team working with me.'

Her humility can be traced back to her humble beginnings.

The middle of three children, she has lived all her 28 years in her family's three-room flat in Bedok. She is still single.

Her father is a retired sub-contractor while her mother works as a customer relations officer at Singapore Pools.

She studied in Bedok South Secondary, a stone's throw away from home. It was there that she stumbled upon her first love - recycling.

'I did simple things like picking up litter around school and collecting old newspapers and clothes in the neighbourhood,' she recalled.

She went on to Serangoon Junior College where she was one of the top students for the A levels.

Her excellent results won her a scholarship from Nanyang Technological University (NTU). She chose to study electrical and electronic engineering because 'the degree was practical and the results tangible'.

In NTU, her passion for recycling deepened when she joined Earthlink, the university's environmental awareness society. She took part in recycling competitions and went on an environmental study trip to Germany.

Upon graduation in 2003, she was offered the inaugural A*Star Graduate Scholarship.

It was there that she saw the opportunity to combine her engineering training with her long-time passion for saving the environment.

She completed her doctorate in philosophy in electrical and electronic engineering at NTU earlier this month and is now waiting for her conferment letter.

'It will be my parents' fifth time attending a convocation ceremony in NTU. They must be tired of it,' she joked.

The Lee siblings are all NTU graduates. Dr Lee's elder sister, 31, a manager at the Singapore Management University, did both her bachelor's and master's degrees in NTU.

Her younger brother, 24, just graduated with an accountancy degree from NTU and now works as an auditor in a top accounting firm.

Interestingly, the siblings' secret to success did not involve a single tuition class.

Said Dr Lee: 'My parents are not highly-educated nor well-to-do, but they are very supportive of our studies. Their rules for us were simple: Don't go out too late at night and never skip school.'

At home, Dr Lee is the family's self-appointed environmental officer. She has boxes for different types of rubbish - paper, cans, plastics and glass.

'Sometimes, I scold my family members for throwing bottles and cans into the dustbin or for wasting electricity,' she said.

She is not much different at work, said her colleagues.

After office meetings, she would stay behind to collect mineral water bottles that others had chucked into the bin.

She sets up 'recycling corners' wherever she goes, be it the laboratory or her office.

Said her colleague, Miss Anne Ho, 29, a research officer: 'Hui Mien even takes recycling bags for the rest of us when we go shopping together. She does not allow us to take plastic bags.'

'Her mantra is: 'Think before you throw',' added Miss Ho with a laugh.

However, it was not until recently that people have become more accepting of Dr Lee's 'green' ways.

'When I first started recycling many years ago, people laughed at me and said things like: 'Are you serious? Why bother?' I remember how people turned the recycling bins in NTU into rubbish bins,' she said.

But things are different now. After office meetings, colleagues will automatically pass her their mineral water bottles to recycle. When printing documents at the office, they try to print on both sides of the paper. They even feel guilty about using plastic bags when out shopping.

While happy with others' heightened awareness for the environment, Dr Lee believes more can be done. People in Germany and Switzerland drive all the way to recycling centres and pay for their trash to be recycled, she said, adding that Singapore has a long way to go.

Now that her PhD is done and the big project over, she hopes to make Europe her next destination. Not for a holiday, but a post-doctoral attachment.

'They are more advanced in life cycle engineering. I'd like to spend some time there in maybe one to two years' time,' she said.

Meanwhile, she already has a mini environmental project lined up: to set up a recycling project at SIMTech.

'We need to consume within our means so that there will be enough for the next generation,' she said.

After inventing recycled spectacles, this next task should be within easy sight.