Annual Percentage of Recyclable Waste Processed at Materials Recovery Facilities in Past Three Years

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment in the past three years what is the annual percentage of (i) recyclable waste processed at materials recovery facilities but not exported that are ultimately treated as general waste and (ii) recyclable waste reused as materials for new products.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) monitors the contamination rate of recyclables collected in the blue bins and recycling chutes. Based on data collected in 2018 and 2020, about 40% of the items collected cannot be recycled. These are treated as general waste after being sorted at the Material Recovery Facilities and disposed of at waste-to-energy plants for energy recovery. The remaining 60% is sent to recyclers, who will process the recyclables and use the materials for new products or send them to other recycling facilities for further processing and recycling.