When his private waste collector provided only a single bin for recyclables, bank executive Lawrence Tan was willing to pay Colex Holdings for additional bins so that he could sort and place his recyclables in separate receptacles.
The public waste collector turned down his offer.
So Mr Tan, 48, and his neighbour bought themselves a second bin.
But they and other Singaporeans who separate their recyclables shouldn't bother. Recyclables are thrown into the same truck at the point of collection.
Going by what public waste collectors tell The New Paper, Singapore adopts a "co-mingle" approach.
"In the past, Singapore adopted the practice of sorting out recyclables at source, but now with more efficient sorting facilities, we are moving towards co-mingling," said Veolia Environmental Services marketing and communication manager Christina Lee.
Sembcorp , one of the big four public waste collectors, also confirmed that it practises co-mingling.
Even if the recyclables are segregated, public waste collectors re-sort them as they often find contaminants such as food waste or other unsuitable material like tissue paper thrown in.
Typically, 20 to 30 per cent of items set aside for recycling are found unsuitable, a Sembcorp spokesman said.
Other countries
"Singapore's attitude towards recycling is still Third World.
In Taiwan and Japan, the law requires recyclables to be separated," said an industry source.
Also public waste collectors supply recyclables directly to paper, glass and plastics manufacturers.
"Paper mill manufacturers prefer different grades of (separated) paper as secondary raw material because it can be turned into different types of finished product," said Ms Lee.
"For instance, recycled cartons are turned into newspaper and recycled newspaper into toilet paper.
"That's why we have to sort them, and that goes for plastics, too. There are seven types of plastics, and the public won't know how to sort them."
One of the benefits of co-mingling is lower collecting costs because single-compartment trucks are cheaper to buy and operate. Collection can be automated and routes serviced more efficiently, said Singapore Environment Council (SEC) executive director Jose Raymond.
Mr Tan had written to the The Straits Times Forum on Monday highlighting infrastructure challenges of recycling. "Currently, Colex provides flimsy blue plastic bags that households must use to bag all forms of recyclables. Not only is this meaningless as there seems to be no sorting dedicated recycling, it is also messy," he wrote.
Mr Tan felt that co-mingling did not make sense.
"You have people who are prepared to sort their recyclables, but the collectors will still go through the separate recyclables. Isn't that unproductive?" he asked.
"I suppose it's a question of education, isn't it? And we're supposed to be a world-class nation."
But asked whether Singapore should enact laws requiring people to separate their recyclables like in California and Japan, Mr Tan felt it would be extreme.
"I'm an optimist. I believe the future generation should be able to do things better ," he said.
The SEC pointed out that there is a downside to co-mingling. It increased "downcycling" of paper - using high-quality fibres for low-end purposes like making for cereal and snack boxes to avoid the presence of contaminants.
It would mean cutting down more trees for low-end uses, an environmental waste.
Indeed, an industry source told The New Paper that unlike in Europe, photocopy paper here is made from virgin pulp and it ends up as cartons - because the fibre is longer and stronger - or worse, turned into toilet paper.
The fibres get shorter and weaker each time paper is recycled.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
The public waste collector turned down his offer.
So Mr Tan, 48, and his neighbour bought themselves a second bin.
But they and other Singaporeans who separate their recyclables shouldn't bother. Recyclables are thrown into the same truck at the point of collection.
Going by what public waste collectors tell The New Paper, Singapore adopts a "co-mingle" approach.
"In the past, Singapore adopted the practice of sorting out recyclables at source, but now with more efficient sorting facilities, we are moving towards co-mingling," said Veolia Environmental Services marketing and communication manager Christina Lee.
Sembcorp , one of the big four public waste collectors, also confirmed that it practises co-mingling.
Even if the recyclables are segregated, public waste collectors re-sort them as they often find contaminants such as food waste or other unsuitable material like tissue paper thrown in.
Typically, 20 to 30 per cent of items set aside for recycling are found unsuitable, a Sembcorp spokesman said.
Other countries
"Singapore's attitude towards recycling is still Third World.
In Taiwan and Japan, the law requires recyclables to be separated," said an industry source.
Also public waste collectors supply recyclables directly to paper, glass and plastics manufacturers.
"Paper mill manufacturers prefer different grades of (separated) paper as secondary raw material because it can be turned into different types of finished product," said Ms Lee.
"For instance, recycled cartons are turned into newspaper and recycled newspaper into toilet paper.
"That's why we have to sort them, and that goes for plastics, too. There are seven types of plastics, and the public won't know how to sort them."
One of the benefits of co-mingling is lower collecting costs because single-compartment trucks are cheaper to buy and operate. Collection can be automated and routes serviced more efficiently, said Singapore Environment Council (SEC) executive director Jose Raymond.
Mr Tan had written to the The Straits Times Forum on Monday highlighting infrastructure challenges of recycling. "Currently, Colex provides flimsy blue plastic bags that households must use to bag all forms of recyclables. Not only is this meaningless as there seems to be no sorting dedicated recycling, it is also messy," he wrote.
Mr Tan felt that co-mingling did not make sense.
"You have people who are prepared to sort their recyclables, but the collectors will still go through the separate recyclables. Isn't that unproductive?" he asked.
"I suppose it's a question of education, isn't it? And we're supposed to be a world-class nation."
But asked whether Singapore should enact laws requiring people to separate their recyclables like in California and Japan, Mr Tan felt it would be extreme.
"I'm an optimist. I believe the future generation should be able to do things better ," he said.
The SEC pointed out that there is a downside to co-mingling. It increased "downcycling" of paper - using high-quality fibres for low-end purposes like making for cereal and snack boxes to avoid the presence of contaminants.
It would mean cutting down more trees for low-end uses, an environmental waste.
Indeed, an industry source told The New Paper that unlike in Europe, photocopy paper here is made from virgin pulp and it ends up as cartons - because the fibre is longer and stronger - or worse, turned into toilet paper.
The fibres get shorter and weaker each time paper is recycled.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
