ENHANCING THE MANAGEMENT OF DOMESTIC WASTES IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Domestic waste has always been a problem for Singapore. With a growing population and rising rates of waste generation, Singapore has adopted incineration processes to reduce the volume of wastes generated. However, apart from waste management, sustainable final disposal remains a perennial challenge considering that there are limited landfilling options. With the offshore Semakau Landfill filling up quickly with incineration ash and other non-incinerable wastes, one solution would be to recycle the incineration ash in other applications. This paper takes a deeper look into the domestic wastes entering the incineration plants in Singapore, and how they may affect the quality of the resulting incineration ash. Based on research into laws and mechanisms developed in other countries, this paper seeks to make recommendations on how Singapore could make incineration ash more easily acceptable for recycling.