Govt must intervene to make people take recycling seriously

I REFER to the articles "Green issues ‘need in-depth coverage’" (Sunday Times, April 16), "Recycling taught in schools" (ST, April 19) "Green Singapore: Combined efforts needed" and "How to deal with people who will not recycle waste⁹" (ST, April 22).

It is indeed heartening to note that the Ministry of Education is encouraging all schools to use exercise books and pads which are printed on recycled paper.

The media’s efforts in helping to raise public awareness by promoting recycling and such will not be worthwhile without government intervention.

In Singapore, for example, did car pooling reduce congestion or traffic?

Perhaps recycling does not have an immediate impact on the state of economy and so does not warrant government intervention.

If recycling is to be taken seriously by all, then perhaps, government intervention is a necessary evil.

The success of Tradenet, the drive towards ISO 9000 etc was made possible by government intervention.

The use of waste ash (municipally incinerated residues) in making concrete blocks, a joint project of the Environment Ministry, Nanyang Technological University and local companies was successful (ST, May 9).

However, its use was limited because of the absence of a national standard or specification for its use.

More than 800 tonnes of incinerator waste are dumped in landfills every day. Would it be a waste to encourage its use in non-structural concrete elements such as concrete blocks and kerbstones?

Imagine the amount of waste ash that could be recycled in such non-structural elements. Of course, without government intervention, this exercise would be just another experiment which requires further research.

One method would be for government tenders to specify the use of waste ash,, where appropriate, in non-structural concrete elements. This would encourage manufacturers of such elements to use waste ash, thus helping the nation in its recycling effort.

Of course, proponents of free-market enterprise will disagree with such an intervention by the Government.

Indeed it is a well-known fact in virtually all countries, including those which claim to abide by the rules of free-market economics, that to succeed in developing a particular technology, state intervention is necessary.

The Government plays a crucial role in helping some companies to develop their technological skills.

Indeed the success of recycling waste ash will have to be the result of government intervention rather than traditional competitive strategies; the skills that these firms acquire with the help of the Government are nevertheless a decisive advantage that they can later use in competitive markets.

Source : The Straits Times

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