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WMRAS MAIL VOL.2 NO.10, 25 November 2016


For internal circulation to the members and associates of the Waste Management and Recycling Association of Singapore
THE MAILROOM TEAM

Publisher: Melissa Tan
Editor: Edwin Pang
Dy Editor: Darren Chia
 

Publications
Sub-committee:
David Dao
Emmanual Tay
Michael Ho

Michelle Ng

We have moved!

WMRAS’ new address is at 62 Ubi Road 1 #08-06 Oxley Bizhub 2, S(408734).  Our building is located behind Oxley Bizhub I on Paya Lebar Road, near Traffic Police HQ. The nearest MRT station is Tai Seng on the Circle Line.

Hong Kah North Environment Day 2016

WMRAS supported the event held at Hong Kah North CC on 20 November. Besides the flagship trash for grocery recycling programme, a life-sized model of an eco-friendly home (sponsored by IKEA) and a skit demonstrated how green and sustainable practices can be carried out in a domestic household. There was also a display of models created by students made out of used paper and cardboard; in the form of creative works of art and functional items. In addition, exhibitors including Abbott, Electrolux, Puro, Subway, Tetra Pak and WIS Holdings were present to educate visitors on their commitment to waste reduction. The highlight of the morning, however, was when the MP for Hong Kah North and WMRAS Advisor, Dr Amy Khor, who is also the Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources, and Health; demonstrated how two WIS Holdings’ food digesters at Sheng Siong’s FM Food Master Food Court could convert food waste collected from the hawker centre into fertiliser. She later presented packets of the fertilizer which had been produced earlier to students from several schools in Hong Kah North for their gardening activities. Besides members of the organising committee made up of her grassroots leaders, Dr Khor was accompanied by the CEO of NEA Mr Ronnie Tay, Director of NEA’s Industry Development and Promotion Office Mr Dalson Chung and Chairman of WMRAS Ms Melissa Tan.
Dr Khor (centre) with WMRAS Chairman Melissa (in red), NEA senior officials, sponsors, exhibitors and members of the organising committee from Hong Kah North constituency.
Skit by The Bridge Productions demonstrating how green and sustainable practices can be carried out at home.
Clockwise from top left: At the booths of Abbott (with Dr Khor and NEA CEO Ronnie Tay – on the right of Dr Khor), Subway/Puro, Tetra Pak and WIS Holdings (with WMRAS Chairman Melissa Tan and WMRAS Executive Director Edwin Pang – both in red).
At the FM Food Master food court posing in front of the two food digestors.
Dr Khor emptying food waste into a digestor.
Dr Khor posing with students and teachers and their bags of fertiliser.

ITB Learning Journey in Singapore organised by WMRAS

On 21 October, the Environmental Engineering Alumni of the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Indonesia, went on learning journeys to the Tuas South Incineration Plant and Samwoh Eco-Green Building organised by WMRAS with the kind co-operation of NEA and our member, Samwoh. Besides the actual educational visits, WMRAS had arranged for the meals and transport for the Indonesian delegation which was introduced to WMRAS by the Indonesia Solid Waste Association (InSWA), a fellow founding member of the Asia Pacific Waste and Environment Alliance (APWEA).

COMING UP!

RESERVE YOUR SEATS NOW! 

Join us at our largest industry networking event of the year as we usher in the year of the rooster! Book a table to reward your colleagues and staff for their hard work!

Show your support for WMRAS and the waste/recycling industry by being a sponsor for lucky draw gifts and alcoholic beverages, or by participating in the table-top exhibition (limited tables). Please contact Ms Goh Fang Wei at
6403 2550 for more details.  

Please complete this booking form and send to fangwei.goh@wmras.org.sg by 17th December 2016.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Singapore: Driverless Vehicles to Be Used to Clean Streets and Clear Rubbish

Source: Yahoo News, 18 October, 2016

Singapore is proposing to use driverless vehicles to clean the streets and clear rubbish in the island city. The country's National Environment Agency and Ministry of Transport have jointly issued a request for information regarding the design and development of such vehicles.

"We hope to seek information from the industry, institutes of higher learning and research on how we can leverage new technology to improve productivity of public cleaning," the agencies said in a statement.

"In the longer term, boosting the productivity levels in the delivery of public services will bring about cost and time savings and better deployment of manpower resources," they said.

The agencies said the adoption of new technology was in line with the Committee of Autonomous Road Transport for Singapore's vision of deploying self-driving technology in Singapore, and essential to achieving more sustainable public cleaning and waste collection services.

The closing date for submission is on 28 December 2016, the statement added.

Full article here.

App Makers, Scientists Pitch In to Curb Wastage

Source: The Straits Times, 11 November, 2016
Mr Tan Jun Yuan (left) and Mr Lim Ting Hong co-founded 11th Hour, a mobile app that helps food establishments to cut wastage by allowing them to dangle discounts in real time. Cafe and bakery owners say they like the tool because it does two things for them - cut down on waste and hence money lost, as well as get their brand out to the masses. ST PHOTO: NIVASH JOYVIN

Even as Singapore's population grows, food waste has recently been on the decline, thanks to the collective efforts of government agencies and charities in tackling the problem on multiple fronts.

And the heartening trend looks as if it will continue, as scientists and mobile app developers pitch in to help people reduce and recycle.

A Straits Times analysis of food statistics from the National Environment Agency (NEA) and population figures from the Department of Statistics shows that food waste generated per person rose from about 117kg in 2008 to about 147kg in 2013, after which it began to fall slowly. In 2015, about 142kg of food waste was generated per person.

The rise of local charities that help redistribute surplus food may have helped.

One of them is Food Bank Singapore, which redistributes packaged food from its warehouse at Tanjong Pagar Distripark.

Full article here.

Singapore Government Focuses on Recycling, but Residents Fail to Play Their Part

Source: CNBC International, 14 November, 2016
Man crushes empty drink cans, which were collected to be sold off as scrap metal to recycling companies in Singapore. Moment | Getty Imagese block’s settings tab.

Singapore has impressive public waste-management systems, but there's just one problem - its residents aren't pulling their weight when it comes to household recycling.

The land-scarce Asian city-state generated about 8,400 tons of solid waste a day in 2015, but has just one offshore landfill space to bury all its trash. The landfill "island," called Semakau, was created in 1999 and extended in 2015, with enough space to meet Singapore's waste disposal needs until at least 2035.

Singapore gets by with so little space for rubbish through an innovative waste management process, in which it recycles about 60 percent of its solid waste and incinerates 38 percent of its total waste in waste-to-energy plants. Just 2 percent of the non-incinerable solid waste and the ash from the incinerator plants are buried in the landfill.

But this isn't due to a heroic environmental effort from Singaporeans. Households recycled just 19 percent of their waste in 2015, down from 22 percent in 2010.

Full article here.

WMRAS Warmly Welcomes its New Members:

1) Goldbell Weigh-System Pte Ltd
    


2) Beng Soon Machinery Services (S) Pte Ltd

    
This brings our total membership to 128
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: No. 62 Ubi Road 1 #08-06 Oxley Bizhub 2 Singapore 408734
Tel: +65 6222 5328
Email: secretariat@wmras.org.sg  
Website: http://www.wmras.org.sg/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wmrasofficial
 
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.

Copyright © 2016 Waste Management & Recycling Association of Singapore, All rights reserved.


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