Measures to Reduce Food Wastage in Singapore

Mr Desmond Choo asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources in light of increasing food waste in Singapore (a) how can we engage the community and partners through enhancing internal processes, public education and partnerships to reduce food wastage; and (b) what more can be done specifically in homes, schools, workplaces and food and beverage establishments where food waste is most common.

In 2017, about 810,000 tonnes of food waste were generated. Food waste is one of our largest waste streams and has a relatively low recycling rate. It remains one of our priority waste streams this year, the Year Towards Zero Waste, together with e-waste and packaging waste. My Ministry takes a multi-pronged approach to addressing food waste, which includes encouraging food waste reduction, food redistribution and recycling.

Since 2015, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has been running a food waste reduction campaign that includes media publicity to raise awareness and outreach programmes on ways to reduce food wastage in households. Educational materials, such as the Food Waste Handy Guide, which has tips to help consumers reduce food waste, are made available online and at community roadshows.

NEA started the "Love Your Food @ Schools" programme in April 2017, which encourages schools to minimise food waste.

To help the food and beverage industry reduce food wastage, NEA and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority launched food waste minimisation guidebooks for food retail establishments, supermarkets and food manufacturing establishments to provide guidance on reducing food waste across the supply chain. Guidelines on the proper handling and redistribution of unsold or excess food are also incorporated to facilitate food redistribution.

To promote food waste recycling, NEA supports companies through its Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3R) Fund, to implement projects, such as the installation of onsite food waste treatment systems. NEA has so far co-funded 21 onsite food waste treatment systems. We also conducted a "Food Waste, Don't Waste!" pilot at Tampines Greenlace Housing and Development Board (HDB) estate, where residents segregated their food waste and disposed of it in dedicated food waste bins on the ground floor. The food waste was then recycled at Our Tampines Hub to produce fertiliser and non-potable water.

This multi-pronged approach has begun to yield results. Food waste recycling has increased from 13% in 2015 to 16% in 2017. Nonetheless, there is much more we can do.

As part of our Year Towards Zero Waste efforts, my Ministry will continue to explore measures to better manage food waste in homes, schools, workplaces and food and beverage establishments. These measures will also be part of our inaugural Zero Waste Masterplan to be launched this year.

However, the Government cannot do this alone. This is why we have set aside $2 million this year to fund ground-up projects related to Zero Waste. We will also consult the public and engage non-governmental organisations to seek their views and ideas and co-create initiatives to better manage food waste.