Companies here have cut back on 7,100 tonnes of product packaging in the last four years, and saved $14.9 million in the process.
They are signatories to the Singapore Packaging Agreement, a five-year programme started in 2007 to reduce waste.
For example, Asia Pacific Breweries made its aluminium cans thinner. This saves the firm, which produces 45 million cans of Tiger, Heineken and other drinks, 7.9 tonnes of the metal a year.
And food giant Nestle Singapore saves about 30 tonnes of plastic laminate material a year after making its Milo-powder packages shorter.
They were among 21 firms which received 3R Packaging Awards yesterday from Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, at the start of the Regional 3R Forum waste-management conference.
In his speech, Dr Balakrishnan, who was guest of honour at the forum held at Sheraton Towers, said: ‘An expanding population in a resource-constrained world means there is a rich source of opportunities in environmental engineering.’
But there are several factors necessary before this ‘revolution’ occurs, he added. People must be green-conscious, companies must be socially responsible, governments must invest in infrastructure, the appropriate technology must be invented and shared, and the economic incentives must be correct.
Indeed, reducing aluminium and energy use helps Asia Pacific Breweries cut costs, said efficiency controller Shue Toh Ting.
The Singapore Packaging Agreement has grown from 32 signatories – companies, trade associations, government agencies and non-governmental organisations – in 2007, to 127 today.
Although it runs out next year, its governing board is reviewing the possibility of extending it or making certain aspects mandatory, said chairman Albert Lim. For example, the board and the National Environment Agency are studying a deposit-refund system to encourage the recycling of bottles or cans, he explained.
But the 2,580 or so tonnes of packaging waste the agreement saved last year is a drop in the ocean – Singapore produced some 6.5 million tonnes of waste last year, of which 58 per cent was recycled.
The country aims to recycle 70 per cent of its waste by 2030.
