WMRAS Business Mission to Tokyo, Japan
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Date: 14 to 18 March 2016
WMRAS is organizing a business mission to Tokyo, Japan to identify business or investment opportunities and partnerships. Leading the delegation will be WMRAS Advisor Dr Amy Khor who is the Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources. WMRAS Chairman Ms Melissa Tan will also be joining in the trip.
Meetings and site visits will be arranged to learn of the best practices and technologies of the Japanese waste management and recycling businesses as well as the training of their workforce.
WMRAS will apply for iMAP^ funding for eligible companies to reimburse up to 60% of the eligible expenses*.
For airfare and accommodation costs, companies may apply to IE Singapore for the Double Tax Deduction Scheme (DTD) for up to 2 employees per company. More info here.
Sign up by 26 February using this form.
^International Marketing Activities Programme
*Expenses such as overseas group ground logistics, publicity, networking, consultant’s fees and auditor’s fees are supported by iMAP. International airfare and accommodation are not supported. It would take approximately 90 working days after the completion of the activity for companies to receive the reimbursement from WMRAS.
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Exhibit in WMRAS’ Singapore Pavilion at CleanEnviro Summit Singapore (CESS) & obtain up to 50% iMAP funding!
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Date: 10 - 14 July 2016
Venue: Sands Expo & Convention Centre
In 2016, CESS will see deeper integration with the Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) and the World Cities Summit (WCS). This serves to provide a value-added, seamless experience to the conference delegates and business partners, increase business connection and opportunities and creates a more robust and exciting business environment for both buyers and sellers.
In 2014, the 3 events received more than 20,000 high level delegates (Ministers, Mayors, CEOs), professionals and trade visitors from 133 countries, with over SGD14.5 billion worth of business deals announced or sealed at the event.
Do not miss out on this opportunity! Stay tuned for details on registration for visitors.
To reserve your preferred booth location, contact Ms Noelle Toh, project manager at Experia Events DID: +65 6595 6146 or email: noelletoh@experiaevents.com.
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Five ways companies can turn trash into cash
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Source: Eco-Business, 15 February 2016
Photo: shutterstock.com
Recycling bins have long been a familiar sight in many offices, encouraging employees to do their bit with used paper and lunch packaging.
Now, some companies are making recycling work for them, turning their ‘trash into cash’ while achieving zero waste buildings.
For example, in Kawasaki, Japan, part of the Keihin Industrial Area, multiple corporations engaged in heavy industry like JFE Group and Nippon Oil Corporation and high technology such as Fujitsu, NEC Corporation, Toshiba, Dell Japan and Sigma Corporation, now divert 586,000 tons of waste from landfills annually – more than the total of municipal waste generated.
Likewise, US-based companies like Dell and Kraft are able to recycle or reuse 95 per cent of the materials used in their global manufacturing operations.
Full article here.
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French law forbids food waste by supermarkets
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France wastes 7m tonnes of food annually. Supermarket chain Carrefour, above, agreed the law would help increase food donations.
Source: The Guardian, 4 February 2016
Photo: Gary Calton for the Observer
France has become the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food, forcing them instead to donate it to charities and food banks.
Under a law passed unanimously by the French senate, as of Wednesday large shops will no longer bin good quality food approaching its best-before date. Charities will be able to give out millions more free meals each year to people struggling to afford to eat.
The law follows a grassroots campaign in France by shoppers, anti-poverty campaigners and those opposed to food waste. The campaign, which led to a petition, was started by the councillor Arash Derambarsh. In December a bill on the issue passed through the national assembly, having been introduced by the former food industry minister Guillaume Garot.
Campaigners now hope to persuade the EU to adopt similar legislation across member states.
Full article here.
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Turning one man's electronic waste into another man's cellphone in India
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Karma Recycling’s Recycle Your Waste campaign with social organization Delhi I Love You. Photo courtesy of Karma Recycling.
Source: Forbes.com, 30 January 2016
Currently in third place, India is expected to become the world’s second largest cell phone market by 2017. To fuel this, the Indian Telecom Regulatory agency recently announced the nation has crossed the billion mark in mobile subscribers.
“Electronics are so common in our lives, but we’re disposing of everything so quickly,” says Karma Recycling co-founder and co-director Akshat Ghiya, “phones are supposed to last five to six years, but we’re switching them every year, it’s all status symbol.”
But worse than that was the fact that the existing electronic disposal market consisted of the neighbourhood kabadiwala, or local scrap merchant, collecting and open-air burning products in the slums where the toxic release is hazardous for nearby residents and environment alike.
Full article here.
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Gone to waste: How India is drowning in garbage
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Fire safety officials extinguishing a fire at Deonar Dumping Ground in Shivaji Nagar in Mumbai. India’s cities are struggling to cope with managing their waste output, largely due to that vast difference between official procedures and de facto management systems.
Source: Hindustan Times, 9 February 2016
Travelling from central Delhi towards Ghazipur in the city’s east, the first warning that you get of the approaching landfill is the sight of circling birds of prey. The mound of waste itself becomes visible much before one is assaulted by its stench. Smoke rises steadily from the pile, as the decomposing waste generates highly combustible methane gas.
None of this bothers 10-year-old Jeevan and 12-year-old Devender as they make their way to the top. For years, the two have spent much of their time at the Ghazipur landfill — picking, sorting and selling waste. Without the protection of gloves or masks, the boys, like most ragpickers working at dumping sites across India, are vulnerable to infections and illnesses. “Often we cut ourselves on bits of discarded glass or metal,” says Jeevan. But they show no animosity towards the waste that helps them earn a living.
Full article here.
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Indonesia named second largest contributor of plastic waste
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Source: TEMPO.CO, Jakarta, 9 February 2016
Indonesia has been named the world's second largest producer of rubbish found in the world's ocean, with the figure standing at 187,2 million tonnes contributed by Indonesia alone.
"We are second only to China, which dumps some 262,9 million tonnes of rubbish into the ocean," said the Directorate General for Garbage, Waste Management, and Dangerous Chemicals for the Ministry of Forestry and the Environments, Tuti Hendrawati Mintarsih in Jakarta onTuesday, February 9, 2016.
According to Tuti, the government needs to intervene as without an efficient intervention, the by 2020, the number of rubbish in the ocean will be roughly equivalent to the number of fishes in the ocean - in fact, continued Tuti, it will be enough to cover the city of Bandung with trash.
Furthermore, continued Tuti, Indonesia needs to gear up on developing the technology which would allow us to process and minimise plastic waste - which includes the development of a more, bio-degradable plastic. Indonesia, continued Tuti, has already managed to come up with a prototype of bio-degradable that is made out of cornstarch, which bio-degrades faster than existing types of degradable plastic.
Full article here.
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Minister: Only 15 percent of waste is recycled in Malaysia
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Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan says he and his officers have been trying hard to educate the public on the government’s waste segregation programme as only 15 per cent of Malaysians recycle.
Source: themalaymailonline.com, 4 February 2016
Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan lamented today that only 15 per cent of all national waste collected was recycled, criticising the poor reception to the government’s waste segregation programme.
The urban wellbeing, housing and local government minister pointed out that the rate was lower than in developed countries such as Austria (68 per cent), Germany (62 per cent), Taiwan (60 per cent), Singapore (59 per cent), and South Korea (50 per cent).
“People need to change their lifestyle,” Abdul Rahman told reporters before a site visit at the Bukit Tagar sanitary landfill here.
“They need to recycle, they need to reduce household consumption. Awareness on the reuse, reduce and recycle or ‘3R’ programme is still very low. So there is still a long way to go and we need people to understand,” he added.
Full article here.
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Philippines: Hundreds of local officials under microscope for waste law violations
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Source: Gulf News, 10 February 2016
Photo: Greenpeace
Manila: Some 600 local government executives across the country are being investigated for violating local waste management laws in a move touted as a significant stride in the move to protect the environment.
According to the anti-graft watchdog, the Office of the Ombudsman, nearly 600 local executives, from mayors to vice mayors and local council officials, are being investigated for violations of environmental laws such as illegal dumping and disposal of solid wastes, corruption and others.
Despite the passage of the law on solid waste management in 2000, Republic Act 9003 of the Solid Waste Management Act (RA No. 9003), regulations and restrictions on large-scale disposal of refuse has been largely ignored in the country of more than 100 million.
Full article here.
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Researchers at Singapore university recycle paper into ultralite aerogels
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Source: Waste Management World, 9 February 2016
Researchers at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Faculty of Engineering are working on a project that recycles waste paper into a cellulose aerogel with the potential to be used as an insulation material, or even for cleaning up oil spills.
According to the university the process is a world first, and successfully converts paper waste into green, non-toxic, ultralight, flexible, extremely strong and water repellent cellulose aerogels. In addition to cleaning up oil spills these materials are said to be well suited to heat insulation and packaging applications, and potentially for use as coating materials for drug delivery and as smart materials for various biomedical applications.
"Aerogels, which are among the lightest solid materials known to man, are one of the finest insulation materials available,” explained Department of Mechanical Engineering, Duong Hai Minh, the assistant professor who led the research.
“Traditional aerogels are mainly made of silica, which is not environmentally-friendly. In contrast, cellulose is low cost and makes up 75% to 85% of recycled paper,” added Minh.
Full article here.
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WMRAS warmly welcomes its new member:
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1) Sing Huat Ming Electronics Pte Ltd
This brings our total membership to 118
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Contact the Secretariat if you would like to advertise in this newsletter or on our website, or if you have any training needs or business leads.
Waste Management & Recycling Association of Singapore (WMRAS)
Address: 10 Hoe Chiang Road #21-01 Keppel Towers Singapore 089315
Tel: +65 6222 5328
Email: secretariat@wmras.org.sg
Website: http://www.wmras.org.sg/
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the permission of the publisher. Contact the Secretariat if you have any questions.
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