Under the Resource Sustainability Act, several mandatory provisions have been adopted regarding food waste segregation and treatment in Singapore.

From 2021 onwards - Developers of new commercial and industrial premises must set aside space for on-site or off-site food waste treatment systems in their design plans.

From 2024 onwards - All existing large commercial and industrial food waste generators will be required to segregate food waste for treatment using on-site food waste treatment systems (compost) or off-site facility treatment. This includes large hotels and malls, large industrial developments housing food manufacturers, food caterers and food storage warehouses.

There are different types of food waste treatment system:

• Dehydrator (remove moisture from food, reduce weigh, remove smell) - not top sustainable but convenient
• Dry digester (processing of food waste by bacteria to make a fertiliser)
• Wet digester (processing of food waste by bacteria and diluted with water to transform it into a liquid effluent) - no solids to handle after
• Composter (transforming food waste by bacteria into compost)
• Anaerobic digester (processing of food waste by bacteria while starving of oxygen generating methane which can be used for electricity production and heating)

The anaerobic digester is only for large volume of organic waste. For the other opportunities above, commercially available systems cover a wide range of volumes. The decision on the technology depends on CAPEX, OPEX, use for by-product post-processing, access to utilities (water and discard collection), agreement with local authorities, space available.