MOST Singaporeans probably know about recycling, but do they do it themselves?

Peter Paap of the Singapore Environment Council, a non-government organisation, elaborates:

Are more Singaporeans recycling?

Yes, the participation is still increasing. Word of mouth is a very strong way of promotion. A lot of people have always had a motivation to recycle, it’s just that either the effort of collecting the materials and bringing them to the collection points scattered over Singapore is too great, or they were unaware of the ways to bring them there.

But what is their attitude towards recycling?

Most Singaporeans still associate recycling with the words "dirty" and "lower quality". The image they have is of old men going around with plastic bags collecting cans and newspapers. However, it has become a big and respectable business which, while making money, also provides a valuable service to society.

How else can we promote recycling, besides the Government’s recent decision requiring waste collectors to tie up with recycling companies?

Singaporeans would like it to be as convenient as possible.

Door-to-door collection is catering to that need, although it limits the involvement of the public in recycling, and you are introducing a habit that will be very difficult to change afterwards.

But if it gets more things recycled, it saves the environment and that is what we are striving for. For the door-to-door collection, they need to involve grassroots groups that can do the collection for them and bring the materials to a centralised location.

Source : Project Eyeball, Mar 30, 2001

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