Impact of Overseas Developments on Singapore's Waste Recycling Efforts

Mr Ong Teng Koon asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources whether China's implementation of the "National Sword" policy which aims to ban the import of contaminated recyclables, has impacted Singapore's ability to recycle paper, plastic and electronic waste.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources whether there are plans to build a complete plastic recycling infrastructure in Singapore to cope with all our recyclable plastic waste instead of having to export it overseas.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) is in close contact with the waste and recycling companies in Singapore and understands that our recycling industry is able to sell their plastics and paper to overseas markets. Some of the recyclables collected in Singapore are processed locally by recyclers, such as TES and Cimelia, which treat e-waste. Some local companies are also processing our plastic waste, for example, A~Star Plastics and Plaspulp Union Company. We will continue to monitor the developments relating to China's ban on imports of certain unprocessed waste.

Meanwhile, we are building up the local recycling industry. Where possible, we want to better extract resources from waste and close the waste loop domestically. NEA is currently studying e-waste and plastics recycling solutions and technologies available in the market and assessing their suitability for adoption in Singapore. The findings will help us further develop Singapore’s recycling capability as part of our Environmental Services industry transformation efforts.