Another $1b landfill if rubbish keeps piling up, says Mah.

Amount of refuse grew four-fold in last 20 years

IF SINGAPOREANS do not cut down on the amount of refuse they throw away every day, another billion-dollar landfill may have to be built.

Environment Minister Mah. Bow Tan said this yesterday when he gave an update on the plans for the $1.3-billion offshore landfill at Pulau- Semakau, which will see Singapore through to 2045.

Mr Mah noted that the lifespan of the landfill will depend on whether Singaporeans can reverse the current trend, where the amount of waste thrown has grown fourfold ‘jn the last 20 years to reach 6,200 tonnes a day last year.

He said that the target set in the Green Plan  to cut down per capita refuse generated daily from the present 1.1 kg to 0.9kg by the end of the decade must be met if the landfill’s lifespan is not to be shortened.

Speaking to reporters after touring the Senoko Incineration Plant, Mr Mah said that -if less waste is generated, the lifespan of the landfill will’ be lengthened and a smaller sum will be spent on dispO6al.

The cost savings can then be put to better use, he added.

The landfill is expected to cost $1.3 billion to build and another $30 million a year to run. In comparison, he said, the MRT extension to Woodlands will cost $1.4 billion.

He said: "The amount of rubbish we throw away is increasing at a very rapid rate. "Singaporeans do not realise that as the cost of disposing the waste is also increasing, charges will have to go up.

The refuse disposal charge at landfill sites went up from $25 to $30 a tonne last June.

In June next year, it will go up again to $35 a tonne. When the Pulau Semakau landfill is operational, the cost is estimated to double to $60 a tonne, said Mr Mah.

Similarly, refuse collection fees paid by households are expected to rise. Flat dwellers now pay $6 a month.

To achieve the Green Plan target, Mr Mah said, a package - of measures ranging from educational campaigns to promote recycling to refuse charges which are levied according to the amount of waste generated will be considered.

He added that companies can also help cut down the use of unnecessary packing and packaging materials and modifying their production processes to reduce the amount of waste generated.

Mr Mah said: "The benefits of reducing, reusing and recycling waste will translate into cost savings for the company."

The landfill site at Pulau Semakau, an island south of Pulau Bukom, is expected to be ready for use in 1999, after remaining landfill space on the mainland is exhausted.

Tenders for the project, which involves building a 7-km-long bund to connect Pulau Semakau and neighbouring Pulau Sakeng to enclose the submarine landfill site, will be called in the second quarter of next year.

The dumping ground will cover a land area of 350 hectares and have a capacity of 63 million cubic metres.

About 600,000 cubic metres of landfill space is needed every year.

Aside from the bund, the project also involves the construction of a transfer station on a 7-hectare site at Tuas, and port and treatment facilities at Pulau Sakeng.

Source : The Straits Times 23rd Sep 1993

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