if we want to adress a problem, we need to understand it.
Here are some insightful videos & articles to read :
Articles:
Videos:
The main message?
Reducing our waste is even more important than just properly recycling it. Recycling should always come last after we have Refused, Reduced and Reused.
Some other take-aways:
- re-usable plastic bags are the best environmental option in Singapore, provided that they are re-used many times - over 50 times to be precise. Forget your cotton bags and refuse single-use plastic bags or kraft paper bags, they are 10 times worse than reusable plastic bags.
- biodegradable products are very often NOT a good solution at home because they need industrial composting and should NEVER be put in blue bin, otherwise they will end up with recycled plastic and pollute the whole recycling process. Reducing usage of single use products is the prefered solution. To better understand the problem of biodegradable packaging, read here.
- Glass, cardboard, metals and hard plastics (such as PET, HDPE, and PE) which are collected in the blue bins will be sorted at the MRF. From there, they will be sent to recycling plants located overseas.
- All soft plastics will currently get incinerated in the Waste-to-Energy plants.
- Note that a bottle buyback EPR system is expected in 2022 in Singapore. Furthermore, NEA is investigating the construction of a plastic recycling facility in Singapore. Finally, an Extended Producer Responsibility framework (EPR) will cover the management of other plastic wastes for 2025 onward.
- a Deposit refund scheme for plastic bottles and aluminium cans will be implemented by 2022. Read here.
- Again, the first solution is to REDUCE our usage! Join the BYO movement and use reusable items as much as possible.
- Some rechargeable batteries can be reused 1,000 times compared to nonrechargeable batteries.
