Mandatory Waste Reporting

Contents:
Background
Affected Premises
Reporting Requirements
      Hotels and Malls
      Industrial Premises, Convention and Exhibition Centres
Records and Weighing
Setting Up a 3R Programme
Findings of the Mandatory Waste Reporting Exercise
Case Studies
Contact

Background

The Environmental Public Health Act (EPHA) was amended on 1 April 2014 to enable the mandatory reporting of waste data and submission of waste reduction plans by any owner, occupier or lessee of a work place, upon their receipt of a written Notice.

This initiative aims to draw management attention to and sustain their awareness of the amount of waste produced by their premises and the potential for improving waste management systems. A few case studies can be found below.

Affected Premises

• "Work place" is defined in the EPHA as any premises or place used for any industrial, trade, commercial or manufacturing purposes and includes all construction sites, work sites and farms.
  

• A sample of the Notice served to owners/occupiers of affected premises is available for downloading here [pdf 517kB].

• Currently, the commercial premises that are served a Notice include hotels with more than 200 rooms and shopping malls with more than 4,600 square meters of Net Lettable Area.

• From 2020, factories with more than 20,000 square meters of Gross Floor Area (GFA), warehouses with more than 50,000 square metres of GFA, and convention/exhibition centres with more than 8,000 square metres of GFA, will also be included.
  

Reporting Requirements

For Hotels and Malls

Upon receipt of the Notice, owners/occupiers/lessees of all newly affected premises are required to login to Waste and Resource Management System (WRMS), https://wrms2.nea.gov.sg , to ensure that the premises profile is accurate. 

All owners/occupiers/lessees of affected premises are required to complete and submit the following documents as per the instructions stipulated in the Notice:

1. Waste Report – This covers the quantities of waste disposed and recycled by the premises in the preceding year (i.e. data on waste generated in 2019 is to be submitted by 31 Mar 2020), supplementary information, and the waste management system details of the premises. Download the Waste Report Hotels and Malls (nov2022v2)[XLSX, 33.25 KB]

2. Waste Reduction Plan and Progress Update – This covers the planned activities for waste reduction at the premises as well as an update on the initiatives that have already been implemented.

3. Declaration and Endorsement – Authorised personnel to declare that the submission is complete and true on WRMS. 

Owner/occupier is required to submit only one waste report per year, which will consolidate information for all waste generated within the premises, including waste generated by the lessees.

A WRMS MWR user guide [PDF, 4.98 MB] has been enclosed to facilitate the use of the WRMS.

For Industrial Premises, Convention and Exhibition Centres

Upon receipt of the Notice, owners/occupiers/lessees of affected premises are required to complete and submit the following documents as per the instructions stipulated in the Notice, using the templates in the hyperlinks below:

1. Waste Report template - Industrial premises and MICE Venues [XLSX, 28.06 KB]  – This covers the quantities of waste disposed and recycled by the premises in the preceding year (i.e. data on waste generated in 2020 is to be submitted by 31 Mar 2021), supplementary information, and the waste management system details of the premises.

2. Waste Reduction Plan and Progress Update [xlsx 14 kB] – This covers the planned activities for waste reduction at the premises as well as an update on the initiatives that have already been implemented.

3. Letter of Endorsement [pdf 225 kB] – The Chief Executive or an equivalent, who is in charge of the management and operations of the premises, must endorse the waste report, waste reduction plan and progress update.

Furthermore, owners/occupiers/lessees of premises with tenants/event organisers who manage their own waste are required to collate and submit the Waste Reports completed by each tenant/event organiser.

All submissions are to be sent to waste_reporting@nea.gov.sg.

Records and Weighing

In addition, owners/occupiers/lessees are required to keep records of the waste disposed and recycled quantities at the premises, for not less than 5 years. With effect from 1 Sep 2019, the following requirements further apply to waste disposed by affected premises:

To assist affected premises with complying with the weighing requirements, a list of General Waste Collectors that provide general waste weighing services can be found here.

Lastly, for verification of the information submitted, on occasion, these records may be requested to be submitted and/or physical inspections of the premises may be conducted.

Setting Up a 3R Programme

Owners/occupiers/lessees may refer to NEA's guidelines on how to set up a 3R programme at their premises. Information on collectors, traders and local recycling facilities can also be found in the General Waste Disposal Facilities page.

Findings of the Mandatory Waste Reporting Exercise

Mandatory waste reporting (MWR) by owners/occupiers of large commercial premises started in 2014. Under the scheme, owners/occupiers of large hotels and malls are required to submit waste and recycling data and waste reduction plans. Large industrial premises, large convention and exhibition centres submitted their first waste reports and waste reduction plans for MWR in 2020.

From 2018 to 2022, the proportion of premises under the MWR that practise recycling maintained at around 94% to 95% for large hotels and about 93% to 95% for large malls. From 2020 to 2022, the proportions of large industrial premises that implemented recycling programmes increased from 80.1% to 83.4%. Additionally, Single-user Factories (SUF), Multi-user Factories (MUF), and Warehouses (WH) have achieved recycling program implementation rates of 92%, 77%, and 83%, respectively.

Between 2021 and 2022, the recycling rate for large hotels increased from 8.6% to 10.5%, while the recycling rate for large malls decreased from 12.6% to 11.6%. For industrial premises, the recycling rates decreased from 55.1% to 54.4%.

The hotels, malls and industrial premises with the highest recycling rates typically segregated paper (carton boxes and newspapers), metals (beverage cans, tins and scrap metals) and food waste for recycling.

The key statistics for MWR hotels, malls and industrial premises can be downloaded here[PDF, 385.5 KB].

Case Studies and Resources

You may refer to NEA's guidelines for more best practices and case studies. 

Owners/occupiers/lessees of MWR affected premises are also encouraged to appoint and train staff as Zero Waste Managers to lead waste management and reduction efforts on their premises. NEA has worked with training providers to develop the Zero Waste Manager course to support businesses in building waste management competencies and fulfilling relevant regulatory requirements on waste and resource management in the Environmental Public Health Act and Resource Sustainability Act, including the MWR scheme.

Contact

For queries relating to mandatory waste reporting, you may fill in the online feedback form or call our hotline at 6225 5632.