New company, ALBA W&H proposes an innovative suite of PWC services, featuring several sustainability, digitalisation and productivity initiatives.

Singapore, 16 March 2020 – The National Environment Agency (NEA) has awarded the new public waste collection contract for the Jurong sector to ALBA W&H Smart City Pte Ltd (ALBA W&H). ALBA W&H is a joint venture between the ALBA Group, an established European environmental solutions company, and Wah & Hua Pte Ltd, a home-grown recycling and waste management company. As the appointed public waste collector (PWC), ALBA W&H will provide refuse and recyclables collection services to domestic and trade premises in this sector from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2027. The current contract for public waste collection in the Jurong sector will expire on 31 March 2020.

2     The Jurong sector covers the Hong Kah North, Pioneer, Yuhua and Bukit Batok SMCs, and the West Coast, Choa Chu Kang, Jurong and Holland-Bukit Timah GRCs. There are about 156,000 premises – comprising 151,000 households and 5,000 trade premises, including hawker and market stalls, shops, places of worship, and government buildings. (Please refer to Annex A for the map of the Jurong sector)

ALBA W&H’s innovative services

3     ALBA W&H’s proposed PWC services feature many innovative initiatives, with clear focus on sustainability, digitalisation and productivity measures.

Sustainability initiatives

4     Under the new contract, ALBA W&H will be bringing in a new fleet of collection trucks for refuse, recyclables and garden waste, including three fully electric trucks. Solar mats installed on the roofs of ALBA W&H’s trucks will help to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

5     To promote circular economy in food waste management, ALBA W&H will also provide on-site food waste treatment systems at Yuhua Market at Blk 347 Jurong East Avenue 1 and Boon Lay Place Market at Blk 221A to treat food waste generated by these premises. Stallholders at the two markets will receive rebates for their efforts in segregating food waste for treatment and reducing waste sent to the incineration plant for disposal.

Digitalisation initiatives

6     ALBA W&H will also be introducing a mobile application called “STEP UP Recycling” which lets users in the Jurong sector collect green bonus points through proper waste segregation and recycling. Users can collect the bonus points, also known as “CO2 points”, by scanning QR codes found on the blue recycling bins when they deposit recyclables into the bins. The green points can be used to redeem rewards.

7     In addition, the application will show the locations of the nearest recycling bin and Cash-For-Trash station and share tips on green living. The application will also provide information and dates of upcoming educational and recyclables collection events that will be held periodically to engage more people to participate in the recycling programme.

8     All ALBA W&H’s rear end loader trucks will be fitted with load-cells so that the weight of the refuse collected along the route can be measured in real time. This will provide information to help us better formulate and target waste reduction programmes.

Productivity initiatives

9     The recycling trucks will be distinguishable from the normal refuse trucks as they will be painted blue to match the blue recycling bins, to increase awareness on recycling. The recycling trucks will also display the recycling logo (the Mobius loop) and be labelled “I am a Recycling Truck”. ALBA W&H will be deploying side-loader bins for recyclables at 591 HDB blocks, where there is space for bin deployment and vehicular access, and at up to 44 schools. With the side-loader, the truck driver can collect the recyclables by himself without the assistance of additional crew, thereby saving manpower and boosting productivity.

10     To further increase labour productivity, ALBA W&H will deploy a fully dynamic route planning software to centrally plan and optimise daily refuse and recyclables collection. (Please refer to Annex B for photos of the Alba W&H’s refuse trucks) Refuse Collection Fees

11     Households in apartments (i.e. HDB flats and condominiums that have not opted out of the public waste collection scheme) and landed premises will continue paying the same monthly Domestic Refuse Collection Fees of $8.25 and $27.47 (both fees inclusive of GST) respectively. The Domestic Refuse Collection Fees are reviewed on a regular basis, and the results of the next review (if any) will be effective on 1 January 2021.

12     The PWC will be notifying the trade premises, via letters, of their new refuse collection fees according to their daily refuse output. The trade premises can also call ALBA W&H’s toll-free number 8008-5268-60 or email contact@alba-wh.sg for more information on the latest refuse collection fees.

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