Last blog post, we looked at Delhi’s poor waste management system, and saw the health and environmental consequences that came with negligence in building a proper waste disposal facility. Mismanaged landfills are not an uncommon thing in the world, especially in the global south where population and consumption is growing at an exceptional pace, and governments are unable to catch up with the growth. However, there still exist relatively exemplary examples of a good waste management system, which we have right here in Singapore.

Waste management in Singapore today is managed by the National Environmental Agency, and strict laws and waste policies created a comprehensive and efficient waste management system, starting from collection down to disposal in a landfill. Municipal waste from households are efficiently collected through a central refuse chute system in the building. On the streets, dustbins are also a common sight. This, coupled with a hefty littering fine of up to $5000 (EPHA, 2000) ensured that the city’s waste are all collected and accounted for. From here, the solid waste are transported to one of the four waste-to-energy incineration plants in Singapore, where they will be reduced and treated before shipping off to the star of our waste management system, Pulau Semakau.

The Semakau landfill is Singapore’s one and only landfill, located about 8km off the South coast of mainland Singapore. The landfill is a combination of two islands, Pulau Semakau and Pulau Sakeng.

A 7km bund or a barrier is built to enclose a 350 hectare area of seawater, which eventually becomes the landfill. To prevent the leakage of leachate into the surrounding seawater outside of the bund, the inner bund is layered with geofabric and clay to form an impermeable layer (NEA, 2019). Waters surrounding Semakau island is so pristine that the coral nursing facilities have been set up next to it, and the intertidal areas are able to house four endangered plant species (Wild Singapore, 2005). In fact, the waters even housed 2 Neptune’s cup sponges, which were thought to be extinct due to over-harvesting in the late 1900s (NEA, 2015).

Although Semakau landfill is doing an amazing job in keeping Singapore’s waste safely tucked away, we are still faced with the imminent issue of eventually running out of space, estimated to happen in 2035. As such, aside from proper facilities, perhaps the most important factor to a sustainable waste waste management system in a city is eliminating waste and committing to a zero waste future.

References:

Environmental Public Health (Public Cleansing) Regulations—Singapore Statutes Online. Retrieved April 8, 2022, from https://sso.agc.gov.sg/SL/EPHA1987-RG3

NEA. (2015). Phase II Semakau Landfill Ready To Meet Singapore’s Waste Disposal Needs To 2035 And Beyond. https://www.nea.gov.sg/media/news/news/index/phase-ii-semakau-landfill-ready-to-meet-singapore-s-waste-disposal-needs-to-2035-and-beyond

NEA. (2019). Phase I and the Operations of Semakau Landfill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTQvjTXs0DQ

Wild Singapore. (2005). Semakau Survey 2005. http://www.wildsingapore.com/projects/survey/semakau/results.html