Zero Waste SG has appointed new leadership following the departure of executive director Huileng Tan.
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Taking on the top job at the Singapore-based anti-waste non-profit is Lionel Dorai, who moves up from his position as partnerships associate director, a role he has held since joining Zero Waste SG in May 2023.
Speaking to Eco-Business, he said he is taking on the leadership role with an ambition to boost waste consciousness and mindful consumption among citizens and corporates in Singapore. The city-state has one of Asia’s highest waste-per-capita rates.
“In my new role, I plan to utilise my expertise in communications and the partnerships I have forged over the years to close gaps that our society has when it comes to waste, be it at the corporate or community level,” said the former communications consultant. “This would mean tackling two important yet stubborn factors: waste-consciousness, and further upstream, mindful consumption.”
Zero Waste SG began as a website in 2008, and was established as a non-profit in 2015. In April last year, it became an Institution of Public Character (IPC), which gives the organisation licence to receive tax-deductible donations.
Notable campaigns Zero Waste SG has run over the years include Bring Your Own (BYO) container, which encourages citizens to bring their own containers to food and beverage outlets. The 2017 campaign was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw BYO schemes suspended over contamination fears.
Zero Waste SG’s most recent campaign, Sort It Out, aims to encourage citizens to sort their trash and reduce waste sent to the city-state’s only landfill on purpose-built trash island Pulau Semakau. Singapore has notoriously low domestic recycling rates, partly because the city-states “blue bin” system allows citizens to deposit their recyclables into blue bins unsegregated, which heightens the risks of waste contamination.
Dorai had previously also held leadership roles in other organisations. He was formerly chief executive of youth development organisation Futureready Asia and, before that, led communications and fundraising for wildlife protection charity Animal Concerns Research & Educations Society (ACRES). He has also worked for mental health and elderly assistance organisations.
He takes on the role six months after Singapore announced that the recycling rate for its biggest waste stream – plastic – dropped to just 5 per cent – well below the global average of 9 per cent – in 2023. Singapore’s domestic recycling rate remained flat year-on-year – at 12 per cent, its lowest point in over a decade.
“We are in the business to ensure we eventually run out of business – if everyone practices mindful habits that promote circularity, then our environment would be the biggest beneficiary and there will not be a need for a Zero Waste SG,” said Dorai.
Tan, who moves on after more than three years with the organisation NGO, said in a LinkedIn post that she plans to continue working in the sustainability and climate space after a career break.
In 2021, she had succeeded previous executive director Pek Hai Lin, joining Zero Waste SG from the public sector. Tan was formerly senior assistant director at the Ministry of Education, and also worked at the Ministry of Social and Family Development and Ministry of National Development.
