The last three decades have seen a climbing amount of solid waste generated by industries and homes up to as much as six times than 30 years ago. The Singapore Government, in its best efforts to overcome this problem, has increased the number of landfill facilities nationwide where waste can be incinerated. Incineration has helped to greatly reduce the volume of waste by the society. The by-product of incineration, ash, takes up landfill space and a continual increase in the number of landfills is not a permanent solution. The size of an average landfill is about that of Sentosa Island and the scarcity of land in itself is another major concern faced by the government. This problem of escalating amounts of waste spills over onto another problem and the concern is ballooned overnight. Moreover, the construction of incineration plants and landfills runs into the billions - an investment that sees no promising future.
This draws us back to the community. It is obvious at this point that Singaporeans must go beyond incineration. How can we as a community or as individuals, help to ease the burden of this waste problem? The answer is simple - recycle and reuse! By stepping up efforts in recycling and reusing, we can cut down the amount of waste and as such, reduce the amount of incineration ash.
Recycling and reusing not only reduce the amount of waste; they are also earth friendly measures. The recent national update on the progress made in promoting recycling and reusing in industries and communities reported that since its launch in 2001, the number of organizations and households which participated in the program has since doubled in the recent years. If our coming Save by Recycling Campaign were to successfully triple this number, it would mean that the number who recycle and reuse will outshine that of those who do not. This is most encouraging and I urge you to become a part of the former.
Thank you!
Ambassador of Recycle, Reuse, Reduce, Replant.
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