ENVIRONMENT & WATER ENGINEERING
NEA AWARDS FOUR NEW PROJECTS UNDER THE
‘CLOSING THE WASTE LOOP’ R&D INITIATIVE The programme supports Singapore’s efforts towards becoming a Zero Waste Nation. As part of its transformation efforts, National Environment Agency (NEA) works closely with the industry and research community to identify key challenges and capability development opportunities in the environmental services industry. Through engagement with the industry and research community, problem statements are identified and innovation calls are launched to crowdsource for suitable technologies and solutions for development and test-bedding. In line with its concerted approach towards promoting environmental sustainability, and to develop local capabilities in this regard, the NEA has awarded four new projects under the ‘Closing the Waste Loop’ R&D initiative. The ‘Closing the Waste Loop’ R&D Initiative is a SGD 45 million R&D programme, announced in December 2017, that has been supporting Singapore’s efforts towards becoming a Zero Waste Nation. The programme encourages collaborations between institutes of higher learning, research institutes and private sector partners to develop technologies and solutions to tackle challenges posed by increasing waste generation, scarcity of resources and land constraints for waste management.
Two of these four projects have been awarded to Nanyang Technological University, and one each to the Institute of Chemical & Engineering Sciences under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, and to the National University of Singapore. Three of these projects seek to develop capabilities for the management of non-incinerable waste, which will contribute towards the Singapore Green Plan’s target of reducing the waste sent to Semakau Landfill per capita per day, by 20% by 2026, and 30% by 2030. Should these R&D projects succeed and subsequently get implemented, up to 100 thousand tonnes per year, or almost half of Singapore’s non-incinerable waste, stand to be diverted from Semakau Landfill. The fourth project has been awarded for the site investigation and characterisation of landfilled materials at the Phase 1 cells of Semakau Landfill, with a view towards recovering useful resources from such materials. Such capabilities, similarly, would help to prolong the lifespan of Semakau Landfill beyond the current 2035. Each of the above projects is to set to run for about three years.
Semakau Landfill: The National Environment Agency (NEA) received the 2019 Hassib J. Sabbagh Award for Engineering Construction Excellence, from the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), for the development of Semakau Landfill. Image: NEA. THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER September 2021
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