Singapore’s domestic recycling rate stalls at 12%, the lowest in over a decade (2024)

SINGAPORE – The household recycling rate in 2023 stagnated at its lowest point in over a decade, with just 12 per cent of all rubbish thrown out recycled – the same as in 2022.

Amid the low recycling rate, households threw out less waste in 2023. Each person in Singapore threw out 0.88kg of rubbish a day in 2023, down from the 0.9kg generated per person per day in 2022, and the 1.08kg figure in 2013.

Singapore’s domestic recycling rates typically hover around 20 per cent, but fell to an all-time low in 2022 because less paper, cardboard, textile and leather were exported for recycling.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) revealed the waste statistics for 2023 on June 19, on the sidelines of the CleanEnviro Summit Singapore sustainability conference.

The low domestic recycling rate comes despite findings from an NEA survey in 2023 which showed that 72 per cent of households recycled, up from 64 per cent in 2021.

Conducted from April to June 2023, The survey of 2,180 respondents also found that 89 per cent of respondents were aware that common items such as rinsed shampoo or detergent bottles can be deposited into recycling bins and chutes, up from 71 per cent in 2021.

Still, having more households participate in recycling this did not translate to an increased recycling rate in 2023.

Contamination remains a major challenge for domestic recycling in Singapore. When non-recyclables such as food are thrown into the commingled recycling bins, they contaminate the lot, which must be thrown out.

NEA estimates the contamination rate of domestic recyclables to be about 40 per cent.

The overall recycling rate – which includes figures from both domestic and non-domestic sectors – in 2023 was 52 per cent. This is down from the 57 per cent overall domestic recycling rate in 2022.

Domestic waste refers to waste generated from households, shophouses, petrol stations, hawker centres, educational institutions and places of worship. The non-domestic sector includes commercial and industrial premises.

Under the Singapore Green Plan 2030, a national blueprint that sets out sustainability targets, the nation aims to achieve a 70 per cent overall recycling rate by 2030.

NEA said the drop in overall recycling rate was due to the “significant decrease” in the amount of construction and demolition waste collected from commercial premises such as factories and construction sites.

Construction and demolition waste – a key industrial waste stream that is generated in large amounts – decreased by more than 40 per cent in 2023 compared with 2022, because there were fewer demolition projects.

Significant year-on-year variations in the volume of construction and demolition waste would thus result in huge fluctuations of the non-domestic and overall recycling rates, NEA added.

Speaking at the joint opening of the 2024 Singapore International Water Week and the CleanEnviro Summit Singapore, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said that as Singapore’s domestic recycling market is small, the Republic is reliant on other countries offtaking its recyclables. This depends on factors such as freight costs and commodity prices, she said.

But Ms Fu added that there has been a heartening shift towards “reduce” and “reuse”. She was referring to the first two of the three Rs in waste terminology – reduction of the amount of things thrown out and the reuse of materials. Recycling is the third R.

“Despite steady growth in Singapore’s population and economy, domestic waste generated per capita has dropped by more than 15 per cent over the past decade, while non-domestic waste generated per dollar gross domestic product has dropped by 30 per cent over the same period,” she added.

The domestic and non-domestic sectors in Singapore generated about 6.86 million tonnes of waste in 2023 – 7 per cent lower than the 7.39 million tonnes produced in 2022.

NEA said the lower amount of waste generated indicated that households and companies have taken positive steps to reduce and reuse.

Zero Waste SG executive director Tan Huileng said the overall recycling rate depends on a number of factors, including whether people recycle the correct materials, whether the recyclables are clean and uncontaminated, and whether there are buyers for the recycled material. Recyclers will have to determine whether the price the recycled materials can fetch on the market is worth the cost of obtaining and processing the waste.

“In spite of the increase in the number of households participating in recycling according to the NEA survey, the Zero Waste SG team understands from our engagements with residents, corporate companies and schools that some still have doubts as to whether items put into the blue bins are eventually recycled. There is also feedback that the high contamination rate in the blue bins has turned people off from recycling,” Ms Tan said.

But the drop in the amount of waste generated in Singapore was a good sign, she added, especially since the decline comes amid a period of economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Singapore Environment Council executive director Cheang Kok Chung said that given the size of Singapore’s market, it will not be commercially viable to develop recycling facilities to recycle all waste streams.

“Recycling some waste streams will be challenging, with the decreasing paper recycling rate as an example. This raises the pressure on Singapore to reduce waste,” said Mr Cheang.

“While the gradual drop in domestic waste generated per person is encouraging, we need businesses to help consumers take actions to reduce waste, such as reducing packaging and facilitating end of life take-backs,” he added.

The upcoming beverage container return scheme – which will officially begin in July 2025– is an example of such end of life take-backs as it aims to encourage shoppers to return empty drink containers such as bottles and cans with volumes between 150ml and 3 litres through smart reverse vending machines in about 400 supermarkets.

Bottled and canned drinks will cost 10 cents more from April 2025 but shoppers will get the 10-cent deposit back once they return the drink containers.

Held concurrently at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, the Singapore International Water Week and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore aim to bring together government officials, industry players and academics from around the world to network and share best practices on issues such as urban water solutions, coastal protection strategies, improved hygiene standards and effective waste recovery methods.

More than 20,000 attendees are expected at the conferences.