• In Singapore, an offshore dumping ground for city

waste in an ecologically sensitive area in Pulau

Semakau turns into a lush green island in eight years.
The landfill, which cost around $400 million, can hold
up to 63 million cubic meters of rubbish, enough to
satisfy Singapore's waste disposal needs until 2040

• Singapore has managed to keep its environment clean

and green, with air and water pollution levels well
within the standards for healthy living set by the World
Health Organization (WHO) and the United States
Environmental Protection Authority (USEPA).
This is due to an effective system of environmental
management involving the following factors:

• an effective and efficient institutional and

administrative framework;
• sound land use planning;
• effective environmental laws;
• sound environmental infrastructure;and
• a clean and honest government that has been in
power since 1959, thus ensuring the continuity of
policies.
• This study investigates the factors needed for the implementation of
a successful waste management plan in Singapore. Data were
obtained through mail surveys and face-to-face interviews.
Statistical t-test of the mean was carried out to determine the
relevance of the issues.

For waste management plans to succeed, commitment of the top

management and involvement of senior site staff are essential. This
indicates that waste management must be a top-down approach, as
workers, by themselves, are not motivated to minimize waste. A
good waste management plan should include measures for waste
prevention, waste minimization and waste recycling.
• There is a need to reduce waste. The first reason is the need to
conserve resources. Raw materials and natural resources are being
used at a faster rate than they are being replaced, or alternatives
are being found (5). The second reason is how the waste generated
should be disposed off. Waste in Singapore is disposed of either
through incineration (90%) or landfill (10%). However, there is a limit
to the city-state's long-term capacity to waste disposal. The third
reason is because of the high disposal costs which make the cost of
waste removal significant to contractors (2).
Thus, waste management is a long-term solution to the problem of
waste since the fundamental objectives of any waste management
plan would be to emphasize on waste minimization as well as to
promote the reuse and recycling of waste (5).
RECYCLING
• Material for recycling may be collected separately
from general waste using dedicated bins and
collection vehicles, or sorted directly from mixed
waste streams.
• The most common consumer products recycled
include aluminum beverage cans, steel food and
aerosol cans, HDPE and PET bottles, glass bottles
and jars, paperboard cartons, newspapers,
magazines, and corrugated fiberboard boxes.
• REUSE

• Buy products that can be reused. This includes items that

• can be used for the same purpose, such as rechargeable

batteries and refillable wine bottles. Regular use of these
products limits the total amount of waste that you generate
in your home, especially packaging waste.

• Egg cartons, ice-cream containers, margarine containers:

Speak to your local school and preschool to find out whether
they can use them for craft activities.

• Reuse envelopes by placing a label over old addresses and/or

use reusable envelopes for inter-office mail. Window-faced
envelopes can also be reused.
• REDUCE
• Buy only what you need

• Reduce unnecessary waste by avoiding those pointless purchases. Items

that rarely get used can be borrowed or shared with others.

• Buy products that can be reused

• Buy products with little packaging

• So that less packaging ends up in your rubbish bin. For those

items you use regularly, buy them in bulk instead of in smaller
amounts. This will save you money as well as reduce waste.

• Buy bottles instead of cans and rechargeable batteries. Items such as

this create very little waste, as they don’t have to be thrown away after
they have been used just once.

• Many hazardous products cannot be recycled as they contain harmful

chemicals. However, there are ways of reducing waste by dealing with
hazardous products in the correct manor
• http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/255601#ixzz13M7
gpSD7

• http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-
1825744/Implementation-of-a-waste-
management.html

• http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/reduce.html