Improving the taste of waste
Oh Boon Ping, Business Times 21 Oct 08;
JUST think about this: someone out there is doing well for themselves - and the environment - by recycling waste at Singapore's hawker centres.
Step forward IUT Global Pte Ltd: a Singapore-based niche environmental waste management company which recently set up a bio-methanisation plant to convert food waste into biogas for electricity production, and compost for landscaping.
The firm told BT it saw an opportunity in food waste recycling as there was no such recycling facility in Singapore and they have the technology and expertise, while the National Environment Agency (NEA) has also been encouraging businesses to seize new opportunities in the growing and vibrant environment sector.
Said CEO Edwin Khew: 'With the global concern about climate change and the rapid increase in population, I saw an opportunity in anaerobic digestion and generation of renewable energy and production of bio-compost.'
So in September last year, Mr Khew approached NEA with a project to access and segregate the organic waste from its 110 market/hawker centres.
The government agency found this a win-win proposal since the waste generated, including organic discard from food preparation and items from the fresh produce stalls, were then incinerated right after disposal.
To facilitate IUT's launch of a pilot project at the Chinatown market centre late last year, NEA linked the firm up with the key players - the public waste collector for the centre, Altvater Jakob Pte Ltd (now renamed Veolia ES Singapore Pte Ltd), and the Chinatown Hawkers Association and their contract cleaners - so that details of the waste segregation for recycling could be worked out.
Also, NEA organised a briefing for the hawkers and market stallholders on the importance of recycling and sought their cooperation to segregate food waste in their stalls for disposal into designated recycling bins.
The table cleaners were also requested to play their part by setting aside food waste for separate disposal into the recycling bins instead of placing all the food waste into the compactor for disposal at the incineration plant.
Since then, another four market/hawker centres have started segregation of food waste for recycling. They are Tekka temporary market, Bukit Timah Market & Food Centre, Taman Jurong Market and Food Centre, and Yuhua Village Market and Food Centre.
IUT's plant is now in operation and receives some 4.6 tonnes of food waste generated at the five NEA hawker centres and markets for recycling.
It contributes to the firm's business sustainability and promotes environmental sustainability through greater resource conservation.
The firm is also grateful to NEA for its help in facilitating the process, saying this 'will help improve the overall waste recycling rate and achieve the Singapore Green Plan targets.
'The technology that we are demonstrating is also unique and required as a solution to many cities in Asia. Singapore wants to be a Clean Energy solutions hub for Asia and the IUT technology is one of the many sustainable energy solutions that Singapore can provide to the region.'
Indeed, Mr Khew is upbeat about the prospects in this business, saying a lot of cities face major problems in treatment and management of organics, particularly food waste going into landfills.
Plus, 'we see our business not just as waste management, but as environment management-cum-renewable energy. As you know, besides treating and recycling the organic waste as bio-fertiliser, we also generate some renewable electricity for our own consumption and a little residual to the power grid in Singapore,' Mr Khew said.
Veolia ES general manager Harald Kloeden is supportive of food waste recycling here, but felt that the price of incineration could be raised to encourage more people to recycle the waste.
With the successful pilot, IUT is now working with NEA to extend this food waste recycling to other suitable market/hawker centres.
Said an NEA spokesman: 'Waste is really misplaced resource and we should minimise waste generation first and strive to recycle as much as we can so that only those waste products that cannot be avoided or recycled need to be disposed of. Food waste is a significant portion of our waste, and we would like the food and beverage industry to seriously look into reducing food waste and segregating food waste for recycling.'
Businesses that wish to make a suggestion to the Pro-Enterprise Panel on how to cut red tape can do so at www.pep.gov.sg
The Pro-Enterprise Panel was set up in 2000 to solicit feedback from businesses on how government rules and regulations can be improved to create a more pro-enterprise environment. The PEP is chaired by Civil Service Head Peter Ho and consists of mainly private-sector business leaders.
