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New Public Waste Collection Contract For The Woodlands-Yishun Sector Commences 1 January 2022

13 Dec 2021

ALBA W&H will provide an innovative suite of PWC services with an emphasis on sustainability, and implement technologies to improve productivity for refuse and recyclables collection

Singapore, 13 December 2021 – The National Environment Agency (NEA) has awarded the new public waste collection contract for the Woodlands-Yishun sector to ALBA W&H Smart City Pte Ltd (ALBA W&H) through an open competitive tender. ALBA W&H is a joint venture between the ALBA Group, an established environmental solutions company, and Wah & Hua Pte Ltd, a home-grown recycling and waste management company. ALBA W&H will provide refuse and recyclables collection services for domestic and trade premises in this sector from 1 January 2022 to 30 June 2029. The current contract for the sector is held by SembWaste and will expire on 31 December 2021.

2 The Woodlands-Yishun sector covers Woodlands, Yishun, Sembawang, Mandai, Choa Chu Kang, Bukit Panjang, Lim Chu Kang and part of Ang Mo Kio. There are about 261,720 premises – comprising 257,160 households and 4,560 trade premises, which include hawker and market stalls, shophouses, schools, community centres and clubs, places of worship, and government buildings (refer to Annex A for a map of the Woodlands-Yishun sector).

Increasing Productivity and Use of Innovative Technologies

3 As part of transformation efforts in the waste management industry, NEA advocates the use of innovative concepts and technologies to improve productivity and sustainability in the collection of refuse and recyclables in public tenders for the Public Waste Collectors (PWCs).

More Efficient Refuse Collection

4 To improve the efficiency of refuse collection, a total of 95 stationary refuse compactors will be progressively deployed at 80 selected HDB residential blocks and 15 markets, HDB trade premises, and army camps across the Woodlands-Yishun sector. Unlike mobile compactors that need to be individually hauled to the incineration plants, refuse from multiple stationary compactors can be consolidated by the same refuse collection truck for disposal. This method is also currently used in other sectors, including the Jurong sector which is served by ALBA W&H. To achieve greater operational efficiency, ALBA W&H has also integrated vehicle and equipment monitoring and deployment capabilities into its command centre. These capabilities enable the provision of timely services to residents.

Upskilling Workers to Improve Efficiency

5 To further improve operational efficiency and equip workers with new skills, ALBA W&H’s truck drivers will be upskilled in a new training programme on proficiencies, such as operation of the stationary refuse compactors, advanced truck manoeuvring and digitalisation skills.

New Vehicle Fleet

6 Residents in this sector can look forward to a new fleet of 55 refuse and recyclables collection trucks that will be deployed progressively from 1 January 2022 for the collection of refuse, recyclables, and garden waste. Thirty-one trucks in the new fleet will be fitted with particulate matter air filters on the trucks’ cabin tops. The filters, which are made from an innovative glass fibre medium, are currently used on the vehicle fleet in the Jurong sector. As the filters can clean the surrounding air, they compensate for some of the emissions from the trucks. About 30 per cent of the new fleet will be electric vehicles (EVs).

7 Forty refuse and recyclables collection trucks in the new fleet will be fitted with overhead solar panels to harness solar energy to power ancillary equipment such as on-board cameras. For recyclables collection, four EV rear-end loader (REL) trucks, one diesel REL truck, and three diesel side-loader trucks will be progressively deployed. There will also be two diesel dual-compartment trucks for the collection of recyclables and garden waste at landed premises. The dual-compartment trucks, which have separate compartments to collect recyclables and garden waste concurrently, will help to reduce the number of collection trips (refer to Annex B for photos of the REL refuse trucks, side-loader recycling truck, and the dual compartment recycling and garden waste truck).

Initiatives to Improve Household Recycling

8 To encourage residents in the Woodlands-Yishun sector to recycle, users can collect green bonus points by scanning QR codes found on the blue recycling bins via a mobile application called ‘STEP UP’, when they deposit their recyclables. The bonus points, also known as ‘CO2 points’, can be used to redeem rewards.

9 In addition, 10 reverse vending machines (RVMs) will be progressively deployed across the Woodlands-Yishun sector to increase recyclables collection. Residents can exchange used aluminium drink cans and PET drink bottles for rewards via the ‘STEP UP’ mobile application when they use the RVMs. The application will also show the locations of the nearest recycling bins, RVMs and Cash-For-Trash stations in the sector (refer to Annex C for photos of the ‘STEP UP’ mobile application and RVMs).

Refuse Collection Fees

10 From 1 January 2022, all households in Singapore living in HDB flats and condominiums that have not opted out of the public waste collection scheme will pay the same monthly household refuse collection fees of $9.63. Landed homes will also pay the same monthly household refuse collection fee of $32.07. Both fees are inclusive of GST.

11 For trade premises, ALBA W&H will inform business owners of their new refuse collection fees, which will depend on their daily refuse output. Owners of trade premises can also call ALBA W&H’s hotline at 8008-5268-60 or email contact@alba-wh.sg for more information on the latest refuse collection fees.

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For more information, please submit your enquiries electronically via the Online Feedback Form or myENV mobile application. Alternatively, you contact us at 6225 5632.

ANNEX A

Map of the Woodlands-Yishun sector

Photo credit: The National Environment Agency (NEA)