Singapore NEA Packaging Waste

Singapore NEA Food Waste

Street lighting to lead smart cities market in the US

28/04/2020

Categories

Tags

Open

City	Singapore
Organization	National Environment Agency
Theme / Sector	Packaging waste
Background	The Resource Sustainability Act (RSA) is a landmark legislation introduced in Oct 2019. The RSA gives legislative effect to upstream regulatory measures targeting the three priority waste streams – e-waste, packaging waste including plastics, and food waste. Packaging waste, including plastics, has been identified as one of the priority waste streams as it made up about one-third of domestic waste disposed of in Singapore. The National Environment Agency (NEA) will be implementing a Deposit Refund Scheme (DRS) for beverage containers by 2022 as the first phase of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) approach for packaging waste management. Under the EPR framework, producers will assume the physical and/or financial responsibility to collect and treat their packaging waste. It will also incentivise upstream reductions in packaging, which would be good for the environment as less resources are used in production and less waste is generated.
Description of the specific challenge	How can we maximise the collection rate of used beverage containers under a Deposit Refund Scheme? Given the proliferation of e-commerce platforms, how can we extend EPR obligations to overseas suppliers in a cost-effective, equitable way and achieve high collection and recycling rates?
Desired outcome	To implement an EPR framework for packaging waste management that accounts for the Singapore context by ensuring a level-playing field among producers (e.g. manufacturers and importers) of regulated goods in specified packaging, and to achieve a high collection and recycling rate of packaging waste including plastics.
Current status	To pave the way for the implementation of the EPR for packaging waste management, we have implemented a Mandatory Packaging Reporting (MPR) framework which will commence in July 2020. Under this MPR framework, companies that supply regulated goods into the Singapore market, such as manufacturers and importers of packaged products, as well as retailers such as supermarkets, will be required to report data on packaging that they put on the market annually. They will also need to develop and submit plans to reduce, reuse or recycle packaging. For a start, the requirements will apply to companies with an annual turnover of more than $10 million. For the DRS framework to be implemented by 2022, NEA will start industry consultations in early 2020 and put up a Request for Information to gather industry feedback. The insights and information gathered will aid in the development of a framework suitable for Singapore’s context. Presently, it is difficult to impose our regulations on suppliers of regulated goods based overseas such as those supplying through e-commerce platforms. This is a challenge faced around the world, including established EPR systems in Europe.
Estimated timelines	By 2022 (DRS for beverage containers) No later than 2025 (second phase of the EPR framework for packaging waste including plastics)
Procurement procedure	The implementation of the EPR (including DRS) such as collection and recycling of the used packaging is generally funded by the obligated producers.
Key local stakeholders	Producers – Commercial entities (e.g. manufacturers and importers of packaged products) that assume physical and/or financial responsibility for the end-of-life treatment of packaging Retailers – Commercial entities that sell pre-packaged goods to consumers Waste Collectors – Collect and transport used packaging to recyclers Recyclers – End-of-life treatment for collected packaging Public – End-user of the packaged products Producer Responsibility Organisations – Third party organisations that manage and operate the EPR scheme

For application assistance: Please contact Quercus Group