The Food Waste Recycling Dilemma
Incinerators: Boon or bane?
Food waste recycling rates in developed Asian nations
After closing Singapore’s last dumping grounds in 1999, the majority of its food waste is burnt.
In land-scarce Singapore, incinerating food waste is a better option than landfill. There is little residual ash after incinerating food waste as it has high moisture content, and its constituents are mostly organic and combustible.
Much as incinerating food waste is believed to be the most effective way to dispose food, a study in 2009 showed incineration to be less environmentally viable than composting.
“Anaerobic digestion produces compost and generates more electricity than incineration,” says Khoo Hsien Hui, one of the researchers of the study. Anaerobic digestion is the decomposition of organic matter without oxygen.
“With more waste to treat, more ash will be produced by the incinerators. And our landfill is not limitless,” Dr Khoo, 36, continues.
The incinerated ash in Singapore is sent to Semakau Island, Singapore’s first and only offshore landfill site. The island is estimated to reach full capacity by 2045, depending on the country’s efforts at reducing waste. (READ MORE: Carbon Food Print)
“Diverting food waste from burning might extend the lifespan of Semakau Landfill as the reduction of incinerator ash will be substantial in the long run,” says director of Environmental Engineering Research Centre in Nanyang Technological University, Wang Jing-Yuan, 50.
Legislating food waste recycling may help increase Singapore’s food waste recycling rate. But NEA finds that it is not practical to mandate people to separate food waste at home as food waste decomposes quickly in the tropical climate and harms public health when it is poorly managed.
The agency is currently conducting studies of the possible measures NEA can put in place to further increase Singapore’s food waste recycling rate, taking into consideration overseas practices for food waste recycling.
While Singapore’s incineration system may be highly efficient, critics of the mix-and-burn approach argue that it is a poor disposal solution that pollutes the environment and destroys resources.
“Incineration can never be a sustainable approach,” says Von Hernandez, 43, director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, over Skype.
“It reinforces the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ disposal mentality as it encourages people to care less about where their waste goes,” continues Mr Hernandez, who led the world’s first successful campaign to ban the technology in his country, the Philippines.
Neil Tangri, founding member of the Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance, believes that more efforts can be made by the government to encourage Singaporeans to separate and recycle food waste.
“People adapt to the systems that the government creates,” says the 40-year-old in an email interview.
“If we expect people to be lazy, they will usually meet that expectation. But if we create a simple, efficient system of source separation, people will also adapt to that. The key is to create a system that is clear, convenient and rational.”
“I am sure that Singapore, which manages to keep its citizens from carrying durians on trains, can also get its people to separate food waste at its source,” he says.
Is using leftover food as reclaimed landfill considered recycling?
Idea, no?
Hmm, I don’t really get your question. Ultimately, disposing food waste using the landfill method is a poor solution. Being an organic waste, it causes a lot of environmental problems (releasing smelly methane gas for instance) when it gets dumped in the open air for decomposition.
That is why in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, people are made to separate their food waste at source and send them to treatment plants where food waste is converted to compost (and energy).
In this sense, food waste is seen as a resource instead of pure trash. =)
The NEA has said before that it will not legislate recycling & separation of waste, preferring to rely on education. While education is the long term solution, it is not enough. We need to combine both law & education to expedite this process of increasing recycling rates!
“NEA finds that it is not practical to mandate people to separate food waste at home as food waste decomposes quickly in the tropical climate and harms public health when it is poorly managed.”
Valid point, but I am sure NEA can continue to look into how to deal with this problem. Also, one factor to bear in mind is how do we enforce this ruling? Any law is useless unless it can be enforced effectively!
I see the challenge would like with HDB dwellers where everything is tossed down the rubbish chute. If enforcement is the approach, then accountability is the key. But when things are tossed down the chute, accountability of households’ food recycling behaviour would become a challenge.
Hello!
Firstly, this is a really impressive website. It’s great that talented local students have been able to bring the food waste problem to such clear light.
My fiance and I live in HDB and we have recently started to compost our raw kitchen food scraps and household wastes (e.g. newspapers, cardboard boxes etc). You can see our composting progress at our blog – http://compostinginsingapore.wordpress.com
We are really happy and excited with the results. Each homemade compost bin was created in minutes for under $20, and we are now inspired to create our own vermicomposting bins (using worms to compost) next.
What mainly motivated us was how we could “save money” by turning the waste into compost for our herb plants (e.g. pandan leaf plant, lime plant, curry leaf plant etc). Alternatively, we are more than happy to give our compost away to neighbours who are currently growing plants. This beats the feeling of throwing all huge amount of trash that could actually be of use. It allows us to actively and satisfactorily play a part in reducing pollution at incinerators and landfills too.
I guess what’s hindering Singaporeans from composting/recycling their food and household wastes is the lack of information, education, resources and awareness. That’s why my fiance and I have been so inspired to start our blog, sharing our composting experience, all relevant resources that have been useful to us, and how easy composting actually is!
If you’re keen, do follow and share our composting updates with others. We are at http://compostinginsingapore.wordpress.com
We’re always excited to share our experiences. All comments and feedback are welcomed!
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for your feedback It’s heartening to learn that your fiance and you are going the extra mile to recycle your food waste into useful compost =).It shows that there are people in Singapore who are making the effort to recycle food waste even without having the government to legislate it.
Have you thought of liaising with Mr Stuart Ong of Olive Ventures? He shared with us that he has customers, mainly housewives, who are interested in composting their food waste. I hope that more people would be interested in this idea and that food waste composting would take off in Singapore. =/ Still, as what’s written in the story, it’ll require a generational change to get people in Singapore to go green voluntarily. =X
Hi Miak!
Yes I have been in contact with him before and we’ll definitely help in any way we can. Thank you for the heads-up!
I’m sure with more awareness and coverage on the food waste problem in Singapore, complementing the increasing local government efforts in public campaigns and schools, a generational change would naturally take place with time
Once again, great effort by Food Waste Republic! We’ll be visiting this site regularly
Blessings,
Michelle
Hi!
Just dropped by this website of yours and I think that both of you have put in a great effort in gathering all this information about the Food waste problem in Singapore.
I am a student from NJC and I’m doing a project on food waste composting with four other friends of mine. We see that since so much food waste is being thrown away in Singapore every year, it seems to us that we should use composting instead of disposal, as this would help the environment.
Would it be alright if we could have an interview session with you probably in the next few weeks? You could get back to me on my email address that I’ve included in this comment. Thanks!
Hi Ashkay,
Thanks for your comments.
Let discuss more via email
Are there any individuals / groups / companies who collect food waste from homes?
Who knows how much IUT charges for collection of food waste, and do they collect food waste from offices too?
I want to do my bit but I am not a big fan of composting (I don’t have plants).
This is a great site!
Hello,
I think it would be better to consult IUT for the charges. If you are really keen, IUT actually welcomes people to drive to their plant at Tuas and drop off the waste.
Your website blog was passed to me by a friendfrom the waste disposal industry and after reading. I had to respond you see i am from UK, Here at present in Malaysia &
Indonesia on business. The conversion of Organic Wastes including food waste and animal BYPROUCTS into Organic Fertilizers or sustainable products. What you are seeing in
Singapore is happening all over the World. Not just with food waste but other Organic Wastes such as Animal Manures,Agricultural wastes such as Palm OIL production residues and lots of others. Allthese residues if they are not correctly treated create Pollution they either rot andcreate a liquid emmission which if uncontrolled can poison our valuable natural groundwater. The rotting cycle also emits odour and gas to the atmosphere called Green House Gas which contributes to GlOBAL WARMING. THESE PROBLEMS CAN BE PREVENTED, The Technology Exists to turn these organic wastes including food waste into valuable Organic products. My company have developed Systems which offer real alternatives but negative Government attitudes or politics are the problem. PCM280910
[...] Written by Estelle Low & Miak Aw Sourced from: http://foodwasterepublic.com/category/blog/2010/03/the-food-waste-recycling-dilemma/ [...]
Hi,
Just happened to chance upon this article and it’s a very good summary of the food waste problem faced by Singapore nowadays. Food waste is only one of the waste stream contributing to our landfill. We also generate tons of plastic bags, electronic waste, paper (bills). In general, waste problem comes with increasing affluence and standard of living. Given the lifestyle of Singaporean, I agree that it would need a generation of change to rectify this situation.
Educating the young is important, but its a slow and uncertain process. In my opinion, the fastest and the most effective method still comes from the government. Government legislation has been proven effective in Taiwan, south Korea and Germany, where retail shops switch to paper bags and almost everyone brings a recycle bag out for shopping. It will be a big leap forward if there is a plastic bag ban in Singapore.
Mini-projects in the neighbourhood is definitely useful in spreading the words in conservation and waste reduction… and it adds life and colors to the neighourhood! Home composting projects are excellent educational tools to educate the public. (Michelle’s composting blog is a “must” visit for everyone who wants to start composting… fun and captivating) After reading her blog, I am inspired to start my own composting project at home!
It will be great if other waste problems can be addressed in future articles. We need to increase awareness and knowledge level of the general public if we want to solve this problem.
[...] Written by Estelle Low & Miak Aw Sourced from: http://foodwasterepublic.com/category/blog/2010/03/the-food-waste-recycling-dilemma/ [...]
[...] Written by Estelle Low & Miak Aw Sourced from: http://foodwasterepublic.com/category/blog/2010/03/the-food-waste-recycling-dilemma/ [...]
Hi, I’m living in the UK right now and actually planning on writing my masters class dissertation on food waste recycling in Singapore! This website was a very useful summery about the food waste situation in Singapore!
I know its been awhile since this post has been updated so not sure if its possible but, could I please communicate with you to discuss this topic further via email (if you could pls email me to the email used to post this reply
)?
Hope to hear from you! Thanks
Best,
Agnes
would it be a good id ea to do a project collaborating with iut and also hawker centres. i could start up sth that would serve as the middleman… provide an easy cost-efficient way to get waste food to the iut plants?
Unfortunately IUT has closed down. It remains to be seen if there will be yet another IUT-like start-up in Singapore.