In partnering with the People, Public and Private sectors, NEA ensures that that the community remains engaged in their environmental responsibilities. These sectors are key to Singapore’s journey towards sustainability, as NEA continues to encourage environmental ownership as a way of life.
Supporting Ideas for Reducing Waste
MSE and NEA convened the Citizens’ Workgroup on Reducing Excessive Consumption of Disposables in September 2020, comprising 55 members of the public from diverse backgrounds. The Workgroup met over seven sessions to discuss ideas and consult stakeholders, and submitted their recommendations to MSE and NEA in January 2021. After carefully studying the recommendations, MSE and NEA supported eight out of 14 recommendations, and are working with the People, Private and Public sectors to co-deliver some of them. These include educating the public on environmental sustainability, supporting companies to adopt solutions that reduce the need for packaging and disposables, as well as charging for disposable carrier bags at supermarkets. On the disposable bag charge, consultations with stakeholders are ongoing on the details of the charge, such as the charging model, the timeframe for implementation, as well as how proceeds from the charge will be utilised.
Gleaning Insights from Community Auditor Programme
Launched in September 2020, the Community Auditor Programme aims to enhance the cleanliness of private residential estates through community engagement and participation. The programme recruits residents of private estates to serve as Community Auditors to conduct audits on the performance of the Integrated Public Cleaning Service Providers.
As of 31 March 2021, NEA had recruited a total of 20 Community Auditors from nine different private residential estates. The Community Auditors receive virtual training on topics such as cleaning for public health, operations of public cleaning services, economics of providing such services in a cost-effective manner and principles of auditing the cleaning performance of service providers. They can submit their findings and observations online for NEA to conduct follow- ups with the service providers.
We have gained useful insights through this close collaboration with Community Auditors, service providers and relevant external stakeholders, and intend to expand this programme to other estates.
Engaging Private Estate Residents in Alternate Roadside Parking Initiative
When it comes to the cleaning of private estates, vehicles parked by the roadside are a major obstruction to the safe operation of mechanical road sweepers and the effectiveness of roadside cleaning. With a common goal towards cleaner public streets, NEA engaged with residents of private estates to implement an alternative roadside parking initiative.
We sought their cooperation to refrain from parking their vehicles on one side of the road on a specified day and time, after which the residents could resume their normal parking arrangements. Signages were put up and information pamphlets were distributed to inform residents in the estates of the planned road sweeping dates.
Following a successful pilot trial in Woodgrove Estate, which achieved a 20 per cent improvement in productivity, the initiative was rolled out to six other residential estates namely Namly Place, Lakeside Grove, Windsor Park, Happy Avenue, Mei Hwan and Cambridge in May 2021. The initiative will eventually be extended to other private residential estates
as well.
Stakeholder Engagement Highlights |
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As part of the Public Toilet Cleanliness initiative, which aims to encourage public toilet users to practise good toilet habits and keep public toilets clean and hygienic, NEA launched the ‘ILOOMINATION’ toilet design challenge to crowdsource innovative design ideas that could nudge users to keep public toilets clean. Targeted at students in Institutes of Higher Learning, the challenge garnered 50 entries involving 149 students from 10 schools. The winning team’s design will be implemented in a public facility managed by NEA, if deemed feasible.
- Keep Clean, Singapore! (KCS) 2020 drew more than 600 online attendees at its inaugural KCS Virtual Launch Event on 19 September 2020, generating more than $1m worth of PR value. The virtual event featured the top four winning entries of the Cleaners’ Uniform Design Competition, co-organised with Temasek Polytechnic's School of Design. Modelled by cleaners, the entries offer a glimpse into the designs of cleaners’ uniforms in the future. It also kicked off the KCS Dance Challenge, a social campaign to engage and reach out to the online community to adopt good hygiene habits in a fun and interactive way.
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