Technical Report Draft #1

Problem statement: 

In 2017, the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) rolled out a campaign “Sustainable Singapore Movement” to cut down on waste generation and wants Singapore to be a “Zero Waste Nation”. According to the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) vision statement, the university seeks to be an innovative leader in the education industry. By being the first educational institution in Singapore to fully recycle all single-use plastics in canteens, SIT will be a model of “Zero Waste Nation” for other educational establishments in Singapore. 

Currently, SIT canteens use non-recyclable plastic products such as Polystyrene (PS) and Low-density polyethylene (LDPE). The difficulty in recycling such plastic materials will result in an increase in plastic waste generated as it will take hundreds of years for it to fully decompose. Also, the location of recycling bins are not strategically placed, hence, it is not fully optimized. The lack of awareness of recycling impedes the university’s vision of being a model for other educational institutions in Singapore.  

By replacing current plastic material to recyclable ones such as Polyethylene terephthalate (PETE) and Polypropylene (PP), these materials are easier and more common to recycle.  

These plastics will be catalyzed into other forms and reuse for a different purpose. Organization of workshops and talks will be done so as to make an effort to increase awareness amongst the SIT community. With the strategical placement of recycling bins, it is able to encourage more people to recycle hence, reducing the amount of waste generated in SIT.  

Purpose statement: 

The purpose of this proposal is to convince SIT estates division to include “Strictly usage of PETE and PP products only” condition into the leasing agreement between SIT and vendors.  

Background: 

This proposal has been developed in response to the campaign “Zero Waste Nation” created by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) for finding solutions to the issue of increasing waste generation in Singapore. 

Under the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint 2015, Singapore aims towards becoming a zero waste nation by 2030 (MEWR, 2017). This campaign focuses on the 3R; Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. It is a joint effort between the government, businesses, and the community so as to build a sustainable Singapore for its citizens and future generations to come. Figures from the National Environment Agency (NEA) have shown that out of the 7.7 million tonnes of waste generated in 2017, only 61% of the waste are being recycled. The amount of waste generated peaked at 2016 at 7.8 million tonnes.  

The extensive waste generation has resulted in a decrease in the capacity of Singapore’s only landfill, Pulau Semakau, to store these waste. At the rate of which waste is generated, the lifespan of the landfill is expected to shorten by 10 years (mewr.gov.sg, 2018). Ultimately, the resultant waste generated are negatively impacted due to lack of awareness on what can and cannot be recycled, how to recycle, and the importance of recycling.Therefore, reducing single-use plastic waste in Singapore Institute of Technology at Dover (SIT@Dover) is the first step towards a zero waste nation campaign.  

Plastics have a huge carbon footprint and the resources used in the production and disposal of plastic emits toxic chemicals. Specific infrastructure is needed to recycle certain plastic materials while non-recyclable plastics are sent to incinerator plants which result in the release of toxic gas into the environment. Only a meager 6% of the total plastic waste generated was recycled despite it consisted of up to 10% of total waste generated (NEA, 2017).  

Removing procurement and usage of non-recyclable plastic in SIT@Dover would allow for a reduction of non-recyclable plastic used. Installing a plastic recycling machine would also allow the SIT community to be a part of this “zero plastic waste” project. Through the implementation of such machines, plastic waste is recycled and reused for a different purpose.