The region’s per-capita burden is low but its recycling laws cannot handle the sheer volume of junked phones and fridges. Globally, improperly discarded gadgets, including solar panels, add to a mounting health and environmental crisis.
Multinational consumer goods brands have gone cold on recycled plastic – now priced higher than virgin – and look likely to miss their 2025 recycling targets. Recyclers in Asia are suffering as a result, particularly waste pickers at the vulnerable end of the value chain.
The prevalence of a "sachet economy" is stretching waste management capabilities in the country. Lawmakers are suggesting an amendment of the current Extended Producer Responsibility Act to expand its coverage to include medium-sized firms.
Industrial-scale deep-sea mining has not been green-lit after negotiations over the rules for extraction stalled. A new study finds that repairing the seabed after mining it could cost up to US$5.7 million per square kilometre.
Increased government and corporate accountability, including the full implementation of the EPR law and more investment into upcycling innovations, are equally critical to create a more sustainable waste management ecosystem in Singapore.
By
Trang Chu Minh
Tackling the causes ocean pollution can have compounding effects. These seven solutions detail how to reduce plastic waste and other ocean pollution.
By
Liz Hollaway,
Jenna Jambeck
and Ellie Moss and Brajesh Dubey
Where do your coffee cups, clothes and household appliances go to die? New documentary Trash Trail traces the afterlife of consumer goods in Singapore to reveal surprising findings.
More than 3 million have watched Sofia Ashraf’s 'Kodaikanal Won't' - based on American singer Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda' - which calls for Unilever to clean up a mercury-contaminated factory in India.