Chai Wan Lin (SOC), Goh Zi Xuan (SOC), Wang Jian Kai, Benjamin (BIZ), Ong Yi Ting Natalie (FASS), Koh Han Boon (FASS)
Academic Advisor: Ms. Sadaf Ansari
The e-commerce market has been growing globally, resulting in increased use of plastic packaging such as poly-mailers. In Singapore, poly-mailers end up in the waste-stream as they are not recycled. Our project addressed this issue by ‘closing the loop’ – collecting used poly-mailers and extending their lifespan as packaging materials through reuse. First we identified and set-up collection points in RVRC, and then we created an educational video to raise awareness on the proper steps to collect poly-mailers. To ‘close the loop’, we collaborated with an external partner for the reuse of the collected poly-mailers. Over a four-week implementation span, 87 poly-mailers were collected; which equates to more than 50% of the residents who had ecommerce packages delivered during this period. Therefore, our project has successfully tested the feasibility of a ‘collect-to-reuse’ solution to divert used poly-mailers away from the waste stream.