{"id":46643,"date":"2021-04-25T11:13:49","date_gmt":"2021-04-25T08:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/?p=46643"},"modified":"2021-04-25T11:14:43","modified_gmt":"2021-04-25T08:14:43","slug":"singapores-recycling-rate-falls-to-10-year-low","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/chief-editors-choice\/singapores-recycling-rate-falls-to-10-year-low\/","title":{"rendered":"Singapore’s recycling rate falls to 10-year low"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a developed country, Singapore’s domestic recycling rate was already low, at 17 per cent. Covid has been blamed for pushing down recycling rates further, although less waste was generated last year compared to 2019. Singapore\u2019s recycling rate has fallen to a 10-year low, with the country\u2019s environment agency blaming the Covid-19 pandemic for low waste collection, processing and recycling.<\/p>\n

The city-state\u2019s overall recycling rate in 2020 was 52 per cent, down from 59 per cent in 2019, which was the lowest point since 2011. Though households disposed of more packaging waste from online food deliveries and shopping during lockdown periods, recyclables collections from the domestic sector were put on hold at the peak of the pandemic in 2020 and only restarted later in the year, the National Environment Agency (NEA) reported.<\/p>\n

Singapore\u2019s domestic recycling rate dropped from 17 per cent in 2019 to just 13 per cent in 2020. That compares to a domestic recycling rate of 32 per cent in the United States, a European Union average of 46 per cent, and 67 per cent in Germany. The biggest drop in recycling rate in Singapore was for paper and cardboard \u2014 down from 44 per cent in 2019 to 38 per cent in 2020, which the NEA attributes to the halting of door-to-door collection by karang guni, Singapore\u2019s informal waste collectors, and the suspension of Cash-for-Trash, a scheme that rewards recyclers. The recycling rate for plastic was 4 per cent in 2020, the same as 2019. A bright spot in the NEA\u2019s findings was the increase in recycling rate for food \u2014 one of Singapore\u2019s biggest domestic waste streams \u2014 which increased slightly, to 19 per cent, from 18 per cent in 2019.<\/p>\n

A key factor in the fall in Singapore\u2019s overall recycling rate was the suspension of a sector with traditionally high recycling rates \u2014 contruction and demolition, the NEA said. Less collection of recyclable ferrous metal scrap meant that less was recycled. The recycling rate in the non-domestic sector fell to 68 per cent in 2020 from 73 per cent in 2019.<\/p>\n

Though recycling rates were down, the volume of waste generated also fell significantly in Singapore, which the NEA attributes to the pause in non-essential economic activities during lockdown, lower demand for goods, and the restriction in the movement of people. About 5.88 million tonnes of solid waste was generated, 19 per cent less than the 7.23 million tonnes generated in 2019. Of the waste amount generated in 2020, 3.04 million tonnes was recycled.<\/p>\n

Though this meant less waste sent to Singapore\u2019s only landfill site, Semakau Island, which is expected to be full by 2035 or earlier, falling recycling rates have put a dent in Singapore\u2019s national waste ambitions which are to increase the overall recycling rate\u2014which has been largely flat since 2012\u2014from 60 per cent in 2018 to 70 per cent by 2030.<\/p>\n

The government also hopes to increase the domestic recycling rate to 30 per cent by 2030, and the non-domestic recycling rate to 81 per cent by 2030. However, last year Singapore\u2019s recycling rates also fell, with the overall recycling rate falling from 61 per cent in 2018 to 59 per cent in 2019.<\/p>\n

The introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility laws, which make companies responsible for the material they produce and use, for electronic waste this year, and for packaging waste by 2025, are expected to help Singapore increase its recycling rates. Currently, most of Singapore\u2019s unrecycled waste is incinerated.<\/p>\n

Source: Eco-Business<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For a developed country, Singapore’s domestic recycling rate was already low, at 17 per cent. Covid has been blamed for pushing down recycling rates further,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":17527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":null,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":null,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5594],"tags":[4267,398,548],"class_list":["post-46643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chief-editors-choice","tag-rate","tag-recycling","tag-singapore","wpcat-5594-id"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/singapore-815721_1920-1.jpg?fit=100%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46644,"href":"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46643\/revisions\/46644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}