Chua Chee Han (FoE/CHE1), Emily Soh Yi Jie (FoE/CHE1), He Xing (FASS/ARS1), Sharne Jerhn Dta Sulaiman (SDE/ARK1)
Academic Advisor: Sadaf Ansari | Student Fellow: Nicholas Tan
Annually, more than 70,000 tons of waste glass is produced from the construction industry. Singapore either exports waste glass or dispose them into landfills given the absence of glass recycling plants locally. In this project, we investigated the steps required to adopt a closed loop system for glass use in the construction industry through recycling. A lack of policies to govern glass recycling and proper waste management at demolition sites has led to inadequacy in the efficiency of resource use for glass. We investigated the status quo of glass usage and glass recycling in the construction industry. Studying the technologies and waste management techniques adopted abroad, we analysed its feasibility in Singapore’s context. It has been proven that usage of recycling glass in production of new glass reduces carbon emissions and contributes to greater product sustainability. Building codes governing practices of the construction industry can help create this closed loop system for glass in construction use.
Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Waste Management, Closed Loop Economy, Glass recycling