Door-to door collection of trash for recycling
ENV starts six-moth test at 416 Frankel estate homes
THE men came to her gate at 9 am on the dot and Madam Tan Wai Cheok was ready. The 74-year-old housewife carefully handed over two small bags of plastic and metal containers and a dozen newspapers to them.
"It’s not a lot, but what I have, I give. It’s for a good cause," she said in Peranakan Malay.
Madam Tan’s Dunbar Walk home was among 416 semi-detached houses and bungalows in Frankel estate which tried out the Environment Ministry’s first door-to-door collection of paper, plastics and drink cans for recycling.
It started yesterday and will run for six months. A driver and a worker in a single lorry will pick up the residents’ recyclable trash every Saturday.
The ministry wants to gauge public response to door-to-door collection and find out if it is cost-effective.
Only about half the homes along Dunbar Walk had bags of paper, plastic and cans ready at their gates yesterday.
Despite this, a ministry offical said: "It’s a good start. We may have to make two trips to collect everything." The collection took about two hours.
Though an official said the ministry had sent flyers to the homes about two weeks ago and officers had also met residents face-to-face, the project caught some by surprise.
"I was never notified and I don’t know what’s going on," said one man as he drove away from his semi-detached house.
But other residents were more receptive.
Mr Dayal M. Lakhani, 40, a company director, was also enthusiastic. "Initially it was a little inconvenient sorting out the rubbish. But after a week, it became a habit," he said.
Miss Sim Ee Waun, 24, a magazine journalist, said that because the lorry came to her doorstep, "there was no reason not to take part in the project".
Retired hawker Mr Tay Siah Chon, 72, remained unmoved by the fuss about recycling. "I’m old and I do what I’m told," he said in Mandarin.
The Aljunied, Brickworks, Toa Payoh and Tanjong Pagar town councils will also launch pilot waste recycling schemes today.
The four town councils will provide waste recycling bins at the void decks of the 38 HDB blocks that they look after.
Asia Pacific Breweries is sponsoring the council’s scheme. Mr Ch’ng Jit Koon, the Senior Minister of State (Community Development), will launch it at Spottiswoode Park in Tanjong Pagar today.
Source : The Straits Times, June 7, 1992
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