ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF THE WASTE MANAGEMENT IN SINGAPORE

Prepared for

Prof. Preston Wade Jason

Yeungnam University

Prepared by

Muhammad Amirul Bin Amil (21830136)

November 18, 2018

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1.1 Contents

1.12 Introduction……………………………………………………….... 3

1.13 Discussion………………………………………………………….4 - 6

1.14 Conclusion…………………………………………………………. 7

1.15 References…………………………………………………………. 8

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 2.1 Introduction

Waste is a substance that the individual who has created it, needs to dispose

of. Regularly all of us just observe the waste in our wastebasket, and it doesn't make

us stress. However, waste is one of the grievous issues for the Earth's ecosystem.

Waste is also a raw component of the life cycle, waste happens when any organism

returns substances to the Earth. Living things take in foods and defecate wastes that

are reused by other living organ-isms. Nonetheless, people generate extra material

deposits that would over-burden the limit of normal recy-cling forms, so these wastes

must be supervised for the sake of decreasing their impact on our wellbeing or

ecosystem. There are several types of waste that have been classified by the United

Nations of Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is of the waste that made from households, offices,

schools and other institutions. The major components are food waste, paper, and

plastic, although demolition and construction debris are often included in collected

waste. Industrial solid waste in the Asian and Pacific Region encompasses a wide

range of materials of varying environmental toxicity. Typically, this range would

include paper, packaging materials, waste from food processing and others. Besides,

expanding agricultural production has naturally resulted in increased quantities of

livestock waste, agricultural crop residues and agro-industrial by-products. Last but

not least, rapid development in agriculture, industry, commerce, hospital and health-

care facilities, the Asian and Pacific Region is consuming momentous quantities of

toxic chemicals and producing a large amount of hazardous waste.

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 3.1 Discussion

Waste management in Singapore includes the accumulation, transport, treatment,

transfer, avoidance, reduction, reuse, or recycle of waste, including the recuperation

of materials and vitality from waste. Singapore receives a three-prong methodology

to diminish the requirement for landfill. The three procedures are: waste minimization

at source, recycling to lessen the measure of waste discarded, and burning to

decrease the volume of waste and to recuperate energy

Figure: A hierarchy of waste management in Singapore

Developments in Singapore's populace and economy have contributed near a seven-

overlay increment in the measure of strong waste discarded, from 1,260 tons per day in

1970 to 8,443 tons per day in 2017. Sustainable solid waste administration includes the

general population, private and public sectors. Working as an inseparable unit with these

key partners, National Environment Agency has built up a scope of activities and projects

to check waste growth.

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The majority of the junks that Singaporeans toss into dustbins are not sent specifically to

Semakau for transfer, yet rather to one of the four burning plants found on Singapore's

mainland. After being exposed to temperatures as high as 1000°C, junk is lessened by

90% of its volume, into unadulterated dark ashes remains. It is this fiery debris that is then

sent to the Tuas Marine Transfer Station for exchange towards Semakau Landfill by an

ocean course of 30km.

In my opinion, it can be said that Singapore had a great management for waste

management. As we can see from the table below, the percentage of the recycling waste

is more than half of the total waste production. Singapore has invested millions of dollars

in ensuring waste management can be carried out as planned. I was very proud to see

the Semakau landfill as the main area to gather the ashes of wastes that had been burned

is very green and clean. It is totally different from the existing dump site in other

developing countries. The island of Semakau is a popular park amongst Singaporeans

since they can have a picnic, cycling and fishing over there. Besides, Semakau Island is

now one of the research areas in ecosystem by the National University of Singapore, a

renowned research university in the Asia. The government believes the exposure of this

island will increase the sense of environmental awareness amongst the citizen. In

conjunction of this effort, many schools and colleges have taken the opportunity to visit

the island. Moreover, the island has occupied with buildings for the seminar program,

meeting, etc. The money collected from these activities were being donated to the non-

government organization to implement the environmental awareness in the society.

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 Waste management and recycling statistics for 2017

Source : National Environment Agency of Singapore

In addition, the utilization of incinerators to breakdown waste has been a wellspring of

global scrutinize. Burning is a well-known technique in Singapore as it is a standout

amongst the savviest methods for waste disposal – lessening the volume of waste by up

to 90%! In addition, it produces power that support around 2-3% of the aggregate power

created in Singapore. Be that as it may, burning outcomes in the generation of dioxins

which is known to expand rates of disease development and other medical issue

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 4.1 Conclusion

Finally, even with all the triumphs the Semakau landfill appreciates, it is vital to

comprehend that it is not a sustainable technique for treating the wastes. At the expense

of counteracting soil and water contamination and to meet Singapore's pressure on waste

disposal, burning is an exceedingly valuable technique yet it isn't without its own negative

results. Empowering more noteworthy recycling through enactment is one of the most

grounded solution. As of now, recycling in Singapore isn't administered when contrasted

with regions in Europe and this is a main consideration for Singapore developing waste.

Other littler and milder measures incorporate motivating individuals to bring their very own

shopping bags and the reusing of natural scraps.

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 5.1 References

Bai, R., & Sutanto, M. (2002). The Practice and Challenges of Solid Waste
Management in Singapore. Waste Management, 22(5), 557-567. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0956-053X(02)00014-4

Chan, J. K. H. (2016). Research paper: The Ethics of Working with Wicked Urban
Waste Problems: The Case of Singapore’s Semakau Landfill. Landscape and
Urban Planning, 154, 123–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.03.017

Lin Guo, & Dong-Qing Wu. (2017). Study of recycling Singapore solid waste as land
reclamation filling material. Sustainable Environment Research, Vol 27, Iss 1, Pp
1-6 (2017), (1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.serj.2016.10.003

Murdoch, G. (2008). Trash and Burn: Singapore’s Waste Problem. Retrieved from
http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/05/22/us-waste-singapore-
idUSSP9046620080522

Ngoc, U. N., & Schnitzer, H. (2009). Sustainable Solutions for Solid Waste Management
in Southeast Asian Countries. Waste Management, 29(6), 1982-1995. Retrieved
from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2008.08.031

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