Grace Chua Straits Times 4 Sep 10;
WHEN minimum energy-efficiency standards for fridges and air-conditioners kick in next year, energy-guzzling models will be taken off the market.
Manufacturers will have unsold items on their hands; and retailers and home owners will have to think about dumping old items, getting them recycled or refurbishing and selling them.
Unwanted appliances, known as e-waste, contain valuable metals and plastics that could be recycled. But left unrecovered, they could release toxic chemicals when incinerated or dumped into landfills. And bulky items like fridges and washing machines take up precious landfill space.
About 200,000 washing machines and 250,000 fridges are sold here each year and the numbers are set to grow.
Mr Alfred Pheh, marketing department manager of Toshiba's consumer electronics division, said this is because young couples moving into their own flats instead of living with their parents are buying appliances.
To curb the waste and mount a dry run for its own push into recycling, Toshiba has taken a booth opposite Lot 1 Shoppers' Mall today, the first day of this year's Recycling Week.
People can sign up there to get their old Toshiba fridges sent for recycling. There will also be booths accepting recyclable appliances of other brands.
Recycling Week, an annual effort by the National Environment Agency (NEA), is focusing on electronics and electrical appliances this year.
Toshiba expects to get 40 to 60 fridges during the event. If the response is good, it may make fridge recycling a fixture and expand the programme to include washing machines.
LG Electronics has been offering customers a recycling service for four years, said its corporate marketing manager Wayne Tang.
An NEA spokesman, explaining the focus on electronic and electrical equipment, said the average lifespan of these items is shrinking. New models are being launched frequently and the range of items is expanding, he said.
Recycling firms say e-waste volume has grown over the years.
Mr Joseph Tan of Recycling Point Dot Com said he processes 200 tonnes of e-waste a month, up from five to 10 tonnes a month 15 years ago.
Introtech, another recycling middleman, ships serviceable machines to other countries in Asia, while Mr Tom Ong, who runs a collection service, refurbishes them for sale here.
Sustainability expert Kua Harn Wei of the National University of Singapore's Department of Building called for business models to be developed to deal with such 'sporadic waste'.
For example, small firms could form networks, each taking a different aspect of recycling, from waste collection to transportation and processing, he said.
Where to recyclewhat
THE National Environment Agency's Recycling Week activities aim to collect 7,000kg of recyclables, including e-waste comprising unwanted electronics and electrical appliances.
These collection centres will accept electronics and household appliances such as computers, computer peripherals, cellphones and accessories, microwave ovens, television sets, hi-fis, kettles and small fridges.
The collection points will be at the following community venues on the stated dates:
Today, 9am to 5pm: Opposite Lot One Shoppers' Mall
Sept 10, 11am to 7pm at:
# West Mall
# Level 1, Northpoint Shopping Centre
# Level 3, Junction 8 Shopping Centre
# Changi Simei Community Club
Sept 11, 9am to 5pm at:
# The open field beside Eastpoint Mall
# Block 502, Jurong West Avenue1
# In front of Toa Payoh Public Library
# Hougang Central Hub, next to Hougang MRT station
Food-for-recycled items swop goes down a treat
Straits Times 5 Sep 10;
Every week, residents in the Changi-Simei constituency can exchange their recyclable items for food items like rice, noodles and canned food at one of its four residents' committee centres.
The initiative has been a hit with the residents, with the constituency collecting more than 200 tonnes of recyclables from July last year to June this year. It collected about 68 tonnes between July 2008 and June last year, and about 25 tonnes the year before that.
This is just one of the 102 outreach activities planned by the constituency over the past three years to promote recycling. For that, it was one of five constituencies that won the inaugural 3Rs Achiever Awards, given out yesterday at the launch of Recycling Week.
The award is given to constituencies with the highest number of 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle) programmes and events per district.
The other four winners are Punggol South, Woodlands, Thomson and Choa Chu Kang.
Mr Andrew Tan, chief executive of the National Environment Agency (NEA), said the constituencies helped push the household participation rate for the National Recycling Programme from 15 per cent in 2001 to 63 per cent last year.
One focus of this year's Recycling Week will be electronics and electrical appliances. Collection points have been set up in the heartland and shopping malls for the public to drop off their old computers, TV sets and fridges.
The NEA is also working with more companies to cut packaging waste. To date, 121 firms have signed the Singapore Packaging Agreement, up from 32 in 2007. The agreement commits companies to reduce the weight, size and thickness of packaging materials.
Jamie Ee Wen Wei
