SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The objective of this Academic Exercise is to highlight the problems of Singapore's solid waste management system and the new directions it should adopt. Rapid economic development has compounded the problems, like indiscriminate generation of waste and unavailable disposal grounds, in land scarce and densely populated Singapore. Simple linear regression models are used and it is shown that total waste in Singapore is significantly influenced by population and GDP. The models also show that domestic and industrial waste are significantly influenced by GDP/Capita and manufacturing GDP respectively. Further analysis shows that there is a growing salvage potential for waste like paper, ferrous metals and plastics. On the other hand, the economic aspects of the system show that solid waste management costs are increasing possibly as a result of costly labour and operations. At present, the waste growth rate is 7.7% per year (which is about six times faster than the population growth over the past tell years) in Singapore. This is coupled with an increasing cost in solid waste management in Singapore. Thus. it is advocated that the potential for recycling be tapped.