Consumers can expect more than 300 such e-waste recycling bins across Singapore from 1 July 2021, in addition to other collection avenues

JOINT NEWS RELEASE BETWEEN NEA AND ALBA

Singapore, 4 June 2021 – The National Environment Agency (NEA) and ALBA E-Waste Smart Recycling announced today the soft launch of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) recycling bins at selected Dairy Farm Group and Harvey Norman outlets, ahead of the start of NEA’s e-waste Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme on 1 July 2021.

2          The e-waste recycling bins are now available at four locations for the public to deposit their information and communication technology (ICT) equipment (such as printers, computers, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, network equipment, set-top boxes, and desktop monitors), light bulbs and portable batteries for recycling. Recycling bins will be placed at five more locations by 14 June 2021. Members of the public can earn points that can be redeemed for shopping vouchers when they recycle their e-waste at these bins. Refer to Annex A for the locations and pictures of the bins, and the types of e-waste each bin can accept.

3          Major retailers like Dairy Farm Group and Harvey Norman play an important role in the management of e-waste under the EPR scheme. Under the Resource Sustainability Act (RSA), retailers that operate outlets with a floor space of 300m² or more will set up in-store collection services for the type of consumer electrical and electronic products they sell. These collection services can be in the form of over-the-counter services or recycling bins. These retailers will also offer their customers free take back services for discarded end-of-life products of the same type on a one-for-one basis. The discarded products are to be picked up upon delivery of a new product regardless of the brand and where the product was originally purchased. Refer to Annex B for an infographic of the role retailers play in the EPR scheme.

4          ALBA E-Waste Smart Recycling, NEA’s appointed Producer Responsibility Scheme (PRS) operator, will channel the e-waste collected by retailers to licensed e-waste recyclers for recycling. These e-waste recyclers will ensure that all data stored on data-containing devices are permanently erased or destroyed before the device is prepared for reuse or recycled.

5          Mr Ram Bhaskar, NEA’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Environmental Protection) and Director-General of Environmental Protection said, “Retailers are a key touchpoint for consumers and play an important role in ensuring end-of-life and unwanted electrical and electronic products are properly recycled. This is especially important as e-waste is expected to increase with the growing demand for electrical and electronic products. We are heartened that Dairy Farm Group and Harvey Norman have taken the lead to offer collection services within their stores, even before the EPR scheme kicks in.”

6         Mr Fons Krist, ALBA’s General Manager said, “We as ALBA are excited to implement this brand-new e-waste Producer Responsibility Scheme in Singapore. Through several different convenient collection mechanisms, which we are putting in place by 1 July 2021, we are taking recycling one step closer to Singapore residents. We are working closely with NEA to implement this scheme, in line with Singapore’s Resource Sustainability Act, and look forward to this being a great success and fulfilling its role towards transforming Singapore into a Zero Waste Nation.”

7          Ms Gwendolyn Cheong, Head of Corporate and Consumer Affairs, South East Asia, Dairy Farm Singapore, said, “At Dairy Farm, we believe that everyone can do their part to protect our environment. We are glad to play our part in catalysing the effort to recycle e-waste at this crucial time when the use of electronic products continues to increase rapidly. Given the footprint of stores we have across the island, we hope that our customers who wish to recycle their batteries and light bulbs can enjoy doing so with greater convenience, and hopefully are incentivised to step up their recycling efforts. We are kicking off with our Cold Storage Kallang Leisure Park store and Giant Hypermarket at Tampines and look forward to rolling this out across the island in the coming months.”

8         Ms Bernice Kwok, Chief Operating Officer of Harvey Norman Singapore said, “We have been providing free collection services for TVs, washers and fridges from our customers upon delivery of their new appliances. With these new e-waste recycling bins, we can now offer our customers even more convenience in recycling their e-waste at our outlets. The appointment of the PRS operator also ensures that e-waste is responsibly reused or recycled. Harvey Norman is supportive of the EPR scheme as it makes embracing recycling much easier for everyone, from the producer to the end consumer.

Convenient Avenues for Public to Recycle E-waste

9          From 1 July 2021, the public can expect more than 300 e-waste recycling bins to be deployed across Singapore in public areas such as town centres, shopping malls, government buildings, Residents’ Committee Centres, community centres, supermarkets and retail outlets. These bins will replace receptacles from existing voluntary recycling programmes led by various industry organisations. NEA is working with these organisations to ensure a smooth transition to the EPR scheme on 1 July 2021. The list of bin locations will be made available on ALBA’s website (www.alba-ewaste.sg, available from 1 July 2021), ALBA’s STEP UP Sustainability mobile app and NEA’s webpage (https://go.gov.sg/e-waste). Organisations that provide recycling services for non-regulated [1] EEE to the public are encouraged to continue with their programmes.

10        In addition, ALBA will organise scheduled collection drives in housing estates, work with Town Councils to remove bulky e-waste and perform doorstep collection for a fee. Together with in-store collection services at retailers, these collection avenues will provide consumers with more convenient ways to recycle their e-waste. ALBA will conduct outreach programmes to raise wider awareness among the public and help inculcate the mindset to recycle e-waste correctly among Singaporeans. ALBA will also organise electrical and electronic equipment repair workshops and donation drives for the community to promote a repair and reuse culture in Singapore.

Towards a Zero Waste Nation

11        E-waste has been identified as a priority waste stream under the Zero Waste Masterplan. A study commissioned by NEA in 2016 showed that Singapore generated around 60,000 tonnes of e-waste each year. It is important to ensure e-waste is handled properly in order to protect the environment and public health from the ill-effects of hazardous substances found in e-waste, while valuable resources are recovered.

12        Each of us can play our part in reducing the amount of e-waste generated and ensuring that e-waste is not thrown away as general waste but sent for proper treatment and recycling instead. We can help reduce e-waste by carefully considering the need to purchase new products, by choosing to repair our products and choosing second-hand products over new products. We can also donate our devices in good, working condition to those in need. If the electrical and electronic equipment cannot be reused or repaired, we should ensure that our e-waste is properly treated and recycled at approved facilities established under the EPR scheme.

13        For more information about NEA’s e-waste EPR scheme, please refer to Annex C or visit https://go.gov.sg/e-waste and www.alba-ewaste.sg. More information about ALBA’s role as the PRS operator can be found at https://www.nea.gov.sg/media/news/news/index/nea-appoints-alba-group-plc-co.kg-as-the-e-waste-producer-responsibility-scheme-operator.