Singapore, 30 June 2023 – Under the Environmental Public Health Act 1987 (EPHA), it is an offence under section 17(1) to litter from residential flats. From 1 July 2023, the earlier announced presumption clause for littering from residential flats will come into force. The presumption clause strengthens existing legislation by placing greater onus on flat owners and tenants to prevent such acts. If a littering act is committed whereby the litter lands on any public place, the registered owners (or tenants of the unit, where the whole residential flat is leased), will be presumed to have committed the offence.

2          The presumption applies only when the National Environment Agency (NEA) could first establish that the litter was thrown out from a residential flat. Care will be exercised in investigating cases committed by young children, the elderly, and vulnerable groups (refer to Annex for Q&As on NEA’s enforcement approach). The presumption can be rebutted by the owner/tenant proving that he/she was not present in the flat at the time of the offence, by proving that he/she could not have been the offender, or by providing the identity of a person reasonably believed to be the offender to NEA, within 14 days of being required to do so. 

Enforcement for littering from residential flats

3          Littering from residential flats is a serious offence, as it poses a danger to the public, dirties the environment, and threatens public hygiene. Any individual who litters is liable on conviction to a court fine of up to $2,000 for a first conviction, $4,000 for a second conviction, and $10,000 for the third and subsequent convictions. The court may also impose a Corrective Work Order, requiring offenders to clean public areas for up to 12 hours.

4          From 2020 to 2022, NEA investigated an average of 31,200 high-rise littering feedback instances annually. This is an increase of about 64 per cent, compared to the average of 19,100 instances annually from 2017 to 2019. Over the same period, NEA deployed an average of 2,600 cameras annually, and conducted about 1,600 enforcement actions annually against persons caught for high-rise littering.

Number of tickets issued for high-rise littering

5          NEA will continue with both educational and enforcement efforts, encouraging members of the public to exercise social graciousness and take greater personal ownership in keeping Singapore clean.

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For more information, please submit your enquiries electronically via the Online Feedback Form or myENV mobile application.

ANNEX

Q&As on NEA’s Enforcement Approach for Littering from Residential Flats

1.     Why is there a need for new regulations on littering from residential flats when there are existing laws? Should NEA focus on public education instead of new laws?

Littering from residential flats is a persistent public health issue. NEA has been working closely with stakeholders, such as Town Councils and Grassroots, on public education for littering from residential flats. Cameras are deployed at persistent littering hotspots, when multiple rounds of education and house visits fail to address the littering issue. NEA complements camera deployments with the use of informational standees, to enhance deterrence and remind residents not to commit littering offences. Fines imposed by the Court are at $700 to 800 per offence, and most littering offenders face multiple charges.

Feedback has increased sharply from 2019 to 2021, with an average of 29,700 instances annually, compared to an average of 16,800 annually from 2016 to 2018. Hence, firmer enforcement action is needed to deter people from littering from residential flats.

2.     What strategies has NEA employed to improve the littering from residential flats situation?

Beyond working with stakeholders on educating residents on littering, NEA has enhanced its detection and enforcement processes to better tackle littering issues and resolve cases expeditiously. These include substantially increasing the number of surveillance camera deployments, and streamlining investigation processes for swifter enforcement action against offenders. Data analytics has allowed NEA to identify littering hotspots to ensure more dynamic deployment of cameras, thus shortening the average waiting period for camera deployment by two weeks.   

3.      How does NEA apply the presumption clause in its investigations?

The presumption applies only when NEA has established that a littering act from a residential flat has been committed. In most cases, video evidence would be available to investigators. During investigations, the owner(s)/tenant(s) is/are given the opportunity to rebut the presumption. NEA investigators will ask the owner(s)/tenant(s) questions, including whether he/she was present in the residential flat when the offence was committed. Even if the owner or tenant provides information on the identity of the offender, this does not automatically mean that the named person can be prosecuted for the littering offence. Similar to with current processes, NEA will investigate further on the veracity of the information provided. 

4.     What if the owners indicate that one of the rooms was rented out?

In such cases, the owner(s) will be the presumed offender(s). The presumption can be rebutted by the owner/tenant proving that he/she was not present in the flat at the time of the offence, by proving that he/she could not have been the offender, or by providing the identity of a person reasonably believed to be the offender to NEA, within 14 days of being required to do so. Depending on the information provided, NEA will conduct further investigations to ascertain the identity of the offender.

5.     Will the new legislation be applicable to homeowners/tenants who are elderly or mentally/physically disabled?

NEA will be sensitive and enforce judiciously against offenders from such groups. NEA has in place an existing enforcement framework for the elderly and physically/mentally disabled offenders. The offender or his/her family members/relatives may write to NEA and provide relevant supporting documents. NEA will then fully review and consider the relevant circumstances of each case before taking any appropriate action against the owner(s)/tenant(s), which may include the issuance of a warning.

6.     Who will NEA enforce against if there are multiple owners?

Every registered residential flat owner or tenant (where the whole residential flat is leased) will be subjected to the presumption clause, when a littering act is proven to have been committed from their flat. All flat owner(s)/tenant(s) should bear equal responsibility for preventing littering offences from their flats. They will be given the opportunity and time to prove that they did not commit the offence during investigation of the offence.

7.     What is the response time given to the owner(s)/tenant(s) to provide information to NEA? What if the owner/tenant had genuinely missed NEA’s letter? Will they still be enforced against for the littering act, or can they appeal?

Owner(s)/tenant(s) will be given 14 days to rebut the presumption, by proving that he/she was not present in the flat at the time of the offence, by proving that he/she could not have been the offender, or by providing the identity of a person reasonably believed to be the offender to NEA. NEA will proceed to issue a summons to the presumed offender after the stipulated timeframe. 

If the presumed offender missed the letter of intended prosecution, he/she may make representation to NEA and provide evidence as to why he/she missed responding to the letter, e.g. air tickets/boarding passes to show he/she was overseas during the relevant period. NEA will assess the representation, and if accepted, will withdraw the summons.