Recycling boost in Pasir Ris and Tampines

Grace Chua Straits Times 15 Jan 11;

FROM July, public housing residents in Pasir Ris and Tampines will get their recyclable waste collected daily from bins at every block.

At present, the 660-litre bins are scattered throughout housing estates - one for every five blocks - and they are cleared weekly.

Last week, waste collection firm Veolia Environmental Services was awarded a seven-year contract for enhanced waste and recycling collection services in the neighbourhood.

Pasir Ris-Tampines is one of the nine geographic sectors for waste collection in Singapore. When waste collection contracts for the other eight sectors come up for renewal over the next two years, residents in these areas will also get more bins and more frequent pick-ups.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said the enhancements were based on public feedback collected in 2009 from 8,300 respondents across public and landed housing, trade premises and town councils.

In the survey, people asked for collection of recyclables and refuse to be more prompt, more bins and better education on how and what to recycle.

Among other improvements to be implemented from July are quieter rubbish trucks and enclosed trash compactors to prevent street overflow and smell. Trucks will also be fitted with Global Positioning Systems to monitor their schedules and make collection more efficient.

People who live in landed homes can also get their garden waste picked up if they want it composted. And their recyclables will be collected every week, up from every fortnight.

All these will cost slightly more: $8 a month compared with the $7.35 that HDB residents now pay as part of their conservancy fee.

The NEA said the improvements will also help residents recycle more. By 2018, the recyclables collected in Pasir Ris and Tampines are expected to triple in weight.

The 10 Pasir Ris and Tampines residents The Straits Times spoke to were evenly split about the efficacy of the new measures.

Tampines resident Lynn Lim, 39, welcomed the new provisions but added that people need more education on what should go into recycling bins. 'Otherwise the recycling bin becomes a garbage bin.'

At Pasir Ris, housewife Peggy Gan, 44, said she saw no need to increase the frequency of collection. She added that she uses the recycling bins only twice a year because they are too far away.

'If you want people to recycle, at least make it convenient,' she said.

Singapore is stepping up recycling efforts in a bid to stop the offshore Semakau landfill from filling up too fast.

In 2009, the country generated more than 6 million tonnes of waste and recycled just 57 per cent of it. It aims to push the recycling rate to 65 per cent by 2020 and 70 per cent by 2030.

And early last year, the NEA also asked for experts to study whether measures such as levies for waste disposal, container refund schemes or mandating of certain premises to separate recyclables like food waste and glass can work to get people to change their habits.

Additional reporting by Neo Wen Tong