PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND OPERATION OF THE NORTHEAST RECYCLING PROGRAMME

Abstract

Growing and overwhelming mountains of waste pose a serious environmental problem The earth has limited resources and materials to support all living things. The wasteful usage of resources, many of which are non-renewable, generate wastes that will have an adverse impact on our environment Therefore, there is a need to conserve our resources to protect our environment. Given the great environmental pressure, the government has embarked on a campaign to promote large scale recycling in Singapore. Waste-recycling schemes were set up to create awareness and educate the public on the need to conserve Earth's finite resources. The Northeast Recycling Project has taken a bold approach in bringing recycling to the residents' doorsteps. Other methods are also devised to help reduce refuse generation However, the success of such efforts often requires great public participation and support Hence, this study aims to examine the benefits of recycling, assess the current level of participation of the Northeast Recycling Project and evaluate the operational aspects of the project. In addition, constraints to recycling efforts and recommendations on how the level of recycling could be enhanced are also highlighted. This study found that the general public are generally supportive and positive about waste recycling. Those who participate in the recycling scheme are more inclined towards non-monetary motives, such as to help conserve resources, to reduce wastage and to help charity. A lack of incentives, unawareness of what to recycle and collection date or simply the apathetic attitude of general Singaporeans deterred those who do not participate or seldom participate. Generally, the project was highly rated by the residents and this can be seen from the fairly high participation rate. A major barrier faced by the recycling companies is to convince people to separate recyclable instead of simply throwing down the chute or the dustbin.