Smart recycling boxes for another 83 locations in Singapore by 2025 (2024)

SINGAPORE – A system that uses smart recycling boxes and lockers to collect recyclables and food waste is targeted to expand to 83 more locations by 2025, after a successful trial in Bishan East-Sin Ming that cut the contamination rate of recyclables.

The system, introduced by local waste company 800 Super, collects paper, plastic, aluminium, glass, metal cans and clothing, and awards points to residents for depositing these separately. The points can be exchanged for FairPrice vouchers via an app.

Trialled alongside the smart recycling boxes is a food waste recycling locker. Users can put food scraps like fruit peel and fish and meat trimmings in provided airtight containers, and weigh them before placing them in the locker.

800 Super, which specialises in environmental solutions, plans to install the smart recycling boxes at new locations in selected regions.

It first rolled out the system at 10 locations in Bishan East-Sin Ming in April 2022. About 2,000 users have registered across the 10 locations as at May.

Mr Milton Ng, chief operating officer of 800 Super, said it will be replacing the first batch of smart boxes and lockers with new ones in stages, as well as replacing the app by Aug 1.

He acknowledged that there are teething problems in the technology, but the company is working to iron out the kinks.

For instance, when The Straits Times visited Block 125 Bishan Street 12 – one of the locations where the 800 Super bins are installed – on June 23, the plastic recycling box was sealed off with a sign stating it was under maintenance and the display screen was faulty.

The adjacent food waste recycling lockers were also not in use.

The display screen on the smart recycling boxes at Block 112 Bishan Street 12 was also under maintenance, but the food waste recycling lockers were functioning.

Residents also said they sometimes face difficulties logging into the app, and that points accrued take a while to be reflected.

Said Mr Ng: “It was a lot of trial (and error) because of issues with system integration… We had challenges in terms of capturing the data and also issuing points to the participants.”

Still, the two-year trial has shown that the system could help to cut the contamination rate of recyclables to just 10 per cent – far lower than the national average of 40 per cent.

Contamination remains a major challenge for domestic recycling. When food and liquid waste is thrown into the blue recycling bins, it contaminates actual recyclables, which must then be disposed of.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) released its latest waste and recycling statistics on June 19, reporting that the household recycling rate in 2023 had stagnated at its lowest point in more than a decade, at just 12 per cent, the same as in 2022.

The low domestic recycling rate comes despite findings from an NEA survey in 2023 which showed that 72 per cent of households recycled, up from 64 per cent in 2021.

Mr Ng, who is also the second adviser to the Environmental Management Association of Singapore, is optimistic that the smart recycling system can help raise the domestic recycling rate.

On average, 800 Super collects about 10 tonnes of recyclables and some 1,700kg of food waste each month from the existing 10 locations.

To deposit recyclables in the smart boxes, residents have to register for an account through the Recycling@800Super app.

It generates a unique QR code that a user scans at the smart boxes, before selecting the category of recyclable items. The corresponding compartment will then open.

Mr Leong Kam Hoong, 70, who visits Block 112 Bishan Street 12 regularly to deposit recyclables, has collected more than 67,000 points and redeemed about half for $300 worth of FairPrice vouchers.

Residents whom ST spoke to said that despite the glitches in 800 Super’s recycling system, they are still willing to do their part for the environment. Some also said they are willing to forgo the incentives.

Theatre practitioner Jeremy Leong, 29, said: “Incentivising recycling is a good starting point, but I think we need to go beyond that. We need to take ownership if we really want to develop into a country where we value recycling and going green. At the end of the day, we want to move away from incentives.”

Retiree Chan Jin Keow said that even if she is unable to redeem points for rewards, she still wants to do her part for the environment.

“Some people still throw food waste in the blue bins, even though they are clearly labelled. After collection, the contents still need to be sorted. But the smart recycling bins are very effective. It is not difficult to sort out recycling items according to the categories,” said Madam Chan, who is in her 70s.

800 Super said it developed the incentive-based recycling programme following the success of an earlier Cash-for-Trash programme in which residents exchanged their recyclables for cash.

The programme was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic, and 800 Super’s Mr Ng said the firm decided to roll out its smart recycling system to allow residents to continue earning incentives for recycling right, without the need for face-to-face interaction.

More than 90 per cent of 200 residents who responded to the waste company’s survey in July 2023 said they would continue using the smart recycling boxes.

Ms Tan Huileng, executive director of Zero Waste SG, a not-for-profit non-governmental organisation, said 800 Super’s smart recycling boxes and lockers are infrastructure that can help nudge residents’ behaviour towards waste sorting at the source – in households and communities.

“We believe that such waste segregation at source will inculcate more mindful management of trash, including reducing waste generation in the first place, and cleaning and storing recyclables properly before taking them to the recycling boxes or bins.”

This would directly lead to a reduction in the currently high recycling contamination rate of 40 per cent, Ms Tan added.

However, in Zero Waste SG’s quick poll of 52 people in June, almost 60 per cent expressed a lack of confidence that waste segregation would increase recycling rates or reduce contamination. This sentiment largely stemmed from a perceived lack of evidence or widespread discussion about its effectiveness in Singapore.

Still, Singapore Environment Council executive director Cheang Kok Chung said such smart recycling initiatives must be encouraged.

“Although the collection of clean streams of segregated recyclables tends to be more expensive and requires more pre-sorting by households, the improved recycling results with low contamination could make the additional expense and effort worthwhile,” he added.

Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we said that 800 Super’s smart recycling boxes and lockers will be expanded to 83 more locations by Jan 1, 2025, after a successful trial in Bishan and Sin Ming that cut the contamination rate of recyclables. 800 Super has since clarified that its smart recycling boxes will be expanded to 83 more locations by 2025, after a successful trial in Bishan-East Sin Ming that cut the contamination rate of recyclables.