You are now reading:

Food Waste Management Strategies

Strategy 1: Prevent and reduce food wastage at source

The preferred way to manage food waste is to avoid wasting food at the onset.

Household Waste Study

A household waste study in 2016 found that food waste accounted for about half of the waste disposed of by each Singapore household a day. Of this, more than half of the food waste could have been prevented through actions such as not over-ordering, over-buying or over-cooking.

Rice, noodles and bread were found to be the most commonly wasted food items. More information on the household waste study can be found here.

A Handy Guide to Reducing Food Wastage at Home & Dining Out

Everyone can play an active role and motivate friends and family to reduce food wastage at home.

For easy-to-do and useful tips on reducing food wastage at home and when dining out, members of the public can download the online handy guide* ( Waste Less Food Handbook). The guide provides useful suggestions on meal planning, food storage, as well as recipes and innovative ideas on how to use leftover food to create tasty dishes.

Waste Less Food Handbook [PDF, 2.76 Mb]

* For more information and storage tips, please refer to Singapore Food Agency (SFA)'s webpage.

Food Waste Reduction (FWR) outreach as part of the Say YES to Waste Less (SYTWL) Campaign

The SYTWL campaign was launched in 2019 to encourage the public to lead a sustainable lifestyle by focusing on simple actions to reduce the consumption of disposables and food wastage.

Specific to food wastage, simple tips include buying and ordering only the amount of food you can finish, as well as saying no to side dishes if you can’t finish them.

Through our SYTWL campaign, we collaborate with partners comprising corporates, social enterprises, interest groups, non-governmental organisations, Schools and Grassroots Organisations, to drive action and encourage the public to lead a sustainable lifestyle.

These partners pledged their support towards Singapore’s zero waste efforts by committing to various actions and initiatives, such as prompting customers to order just enough food, plan meals in advance, make use of blemished or surplus food, offering perks such as free drink/toppings, discounts or loyalty points for customers who bring their own reusable carrier bags and containers and removing single-use carrier bags in stores. More details on our partners and their initiatives can be found here.

Various outreach materials are available for organisations keen to embark on their own FWR programme as part of SYTWL. A list of available materials such as posters, wobblers and engagement activity guides can be found here. Corporates who wish to join the SYTWL as a campaign partner may contact us here.

Food Waste Reduction Resources [For Schools]

For schools interested in food waste reduction programmes, kindly refer to this page for more information and resources.

Love Your Food @ Canteen programme [For Corporates]

NEA has also developed a Love Your Food @ Canteen programme, a clean plate challenge to encourage patrons to order only what they can and finish their food to reduce food waste generated. A toolkit has also been developed to guide organisations in implementing your own challenge as part of your FWR outreach programme.

LYF @ Canteen programme toolkit

NEA Love Your Food Canteen Programme_Challenge Toolkit [PDF, 1.73 Mb]

Food Waste Minimisation Guidebooks for Industry

In addition, NEA and then-AVA have worked with various industry stakeholders to publish food waste minimisation guidebooks for food retail establishments, supermarkets and food manufacturing establishments to reduce food waste across the supply chain. Click on the following guidebooks to find out more.


Food Waste Minimisation Guidebook for Food Retail Establishments	Food Waste Minimisation Guidebook for Supermarkets	Food Waste Minimisation Guidebook for Food Manufacturing Establishments

Strategy 2: Redistribute unsold/excess food

To complement existing efforts to reduce food waste, we encourage both organisations and members of the public to donate their unsold and excess food to food distribution organisations.

Food manufacturers, food retail establishments and supermarkets can contact food distribution organisations to arrange for the donation of their unsold and excess food. For instance, unsold and/or excess food produce can be delivered to Food Bank Singapore or Food from the Heart where they are packed and distributed to needy households.

Members of the public can also reduce food waste by donating safe and edible food items. For example, they could drop off their excess non-perishable food items at various collection points. Shopping malls and offices may also wish to adopt a bank box to be placed at their premises to offer a convenient point for people to drop off their unwanted yet unopened and unexpired food items.

For more information on the food distribution organisations, please click here.

foodbank
Food-boxes by Food Bank Singapore

Good Samaritan Food Donation Bill

To encourage donation of surplus food and contribute to reducing food waste, the Good Samaritan Food Donation Bill was introduced and passed in Parliament on 7 August 2024.

The Bill provides protection to food donors from criminal and civil liability arising from the consumption of the donated food by the food donors if food donors comply with the following four conditions to ensure food safety and hygiene:

· The food must not be unsafe and not unsuitable at the time it left possession or control of the food donor;

· The food donor must inform the recipient of any requirements to handle the food to ensure it remains safe to consume;

· The food donor must inform the recipient of any time limit within which the food remains safe and suitable; and

· Food donor must take all reasonable measures to comply with food safety and hygiene requirements up to the point of donation

These conditions ensure that food donors and food distribution organisations continue to have a responsibility to ensure the safety of food that they are donating or distributing. It also provides assurance to food donation recipients that reasonable measures have been taken to ensure food safety. For more information on the Bill, please click here.

Strategy 3: Valorise/Treat food waste

Food waste that cannot be avoided should be valorised or treated where possible. Valorisation is the treatment of food waste into high-value add products such as those that could contribute back to the food cycle.

To support successful food waste valorisation or treatment, food waste must be separated from non-food waste items, such as disposable cutlery, as they may disrupt the treatment process.

Segregation of food waste is best done at the source (i.e. at the point of generation) as it is less efficient to separate it once it is mixed with general waste.

Valorisation and food waste treatment can be carried out on-site at the point of generation or at off-site at a centralised facility.

Household Food Waste Treatment

Some households have started composting food waste, such as raw fruit and vegetable scraps, using worms or making their own composting bins at home. The National Parks Board has provided some guidelines on how the public can begin their DIY composting at home.

Implementing Food Waste Segregation

NEA developed a food waste segregation guidebook to guide owners/operators and occupiers of premises on implementing proper food waste segregation and adopting food waste valorisation/treatment.

Food Waste Segregation and Treatment Guidebook [PDF, 2.2 Mb]

Homogeneous Food Waste Valorisation

Currently, majority of food waste that is recycled is homogeneous food waste from food manufacturers. These include spent yeast/grains from beer brewing, soya bean waste and bread waste, which are segregated at the source and sold to recyclers for conversion into animal feed or etc.

Click here for the list of food waste recycling facilities and the types of food waste that they can accept.

On-site Food Waste Treatment

Several owners/operators of premises, including hotels, shopping malls and schools, are segregating their food waste and using on-site food waste treatment systems to convert the food waste into compost for landscaping purposes or water for non-potable use.

Click here for a list of suppliers of on-site food waste treatment systems.

Owners and operators of premises who wish to implement on-site food waste treatment may consider the below steps:

1. Conduct a food waste audit or estimate the amount of food waste generated (Refer to S/N 1)
2. Decide on the type of system (i.e. wet system with non-potable water as the end-product, dry system with compost as the end product) (Refer to S/N 2)
3. Decide location of food waste treatment system (Refer to S/N 3)

S/N	Description of initiatives
1. Determine the capacity of food waste treatment system	Prior to selecting the food waste treatment system, we recommend premises owners/operators to conduct a food waste audit to determine the amount of food waste generated. This provides an indication on a suitable capacity for the food waste treatment system. To conduct a food waste audit, you may refer to the Food Waste Minimisation Guidebooks which provides a simple food waste audit template. Alternatively, premises who wish to conduct an in-depth audit can refer to SS 633 - Singapore Standards on Food Waste Management for Food Manufacturing/Processing Establishments and SS 640 - Singapore Standards on Food Waste Management for Food Retail, Wholesale and Distribution Establishments. Premises can also work with suppliers of on-site treatment systems to estimate the amount of food waste generated and the recommended capacity of the system.
2. Consider the type of food waste treatment system	When selecting the type of food waste treatment system, consider the following: Type of food waste that can be treated Consider the types of food waste that the system can and cannot treat. Some systems may require a grinder to crush big or hard bones before they can be treated. Generally, hard shells (e.g. lobster/oyster shells, coconut/durian husks) or fibrous items like sugarcane bagasse cannot be deposited into the treatment system. Types and uses of end-products Consider the uses of end-product(s) (e.g. non-potable water, compost, fertiliser and liquid nutrient) that are generated from the food waste treatment system. In general, there are 2 types of end-product. i. Non-potable water: They may be used to backwash the treatment system or washing of floors. ii. Compost/fertiliser/liquid nutrient: They may be used for landscaping purposes. Please refer to the SS 628 – Singapore Standards on Specifications for Compost for the use of compost in agriculture and horticulture. Provisions shall be made for the effluent from the food waste treatment system to be discharged into the sewer through a grease trap.
3. Location of food waste treatment system	Premises should cater space to house the food waste treatment system. In general, the space required for a 1-tonne food waste treatment system is approximately the size of 2 carpark lots. For new developments, this space could be set aside during planning or renovation. Premises are also recommended to check with suppliers on the exact space requirements for the specific systems. For hygiene purpose, the food waste treatment system should be sited away from the food preparation area. Some possible areas for siting of food waste treatment system include the bin centre or dishwashing area. Please ensure that proper refuse, odour and pest management are in place with the installation of the food waste treatment system. There should also be a power supply available for the treatment system.

Besides the food waste treatment systems in S/N 2, there are systems that remove moisture from food waste through dehydration or heating. While these systems reduce the weight and volume of food waste, they do not involve biological processes to decompose food waste. The residue is dewatered food waste and may cause odour or pest issues when it becomes wet. Thus, it is unsuitable for landscaping use.

Off-site Food Waste Treatment

To determine the viability of co-digestion of food waste with used waster sludge, a pilot was conducted at a demonstration facility at Ulu Pandan.

The facility was designed to treat up to 40 tonnes of combined food waste and used water sludge daily. The co-digestion process yielded more biogas compared to the treatment of used water sludge alone, thereby enhancing energy recovery.

As the pilot has demonstrated that it is feasible to collect food waste from various premises for transportation to an off-site facility for treatment and conversion into biogas, the process will be implemented at the upcoming Tuas Nexus.

Strategy 4: Recover energy

Food waste that is not valorised or treated will be disposed of at the waste-to-energy (WTE) plants for energy recovery.

For more information on the WTE plants, please click here.

(Updated as at May 2026)