Why is Singapore’s domestic recycling rate so low? And what can we do about it

Trash bins in Singapore (📷: Maximus Beaumont, Unsplash)

The current situation

Singapore’s current domestic recycling rate sits at 11% in 2024. That might sound like a low figure, and it indeed is.

Imagine a world where all items weighed the same, and that would mean only 1 in 10 items being recycled in homes.

Why is this the case at the moment? We dug deeper to understand the situation:

A pressing problem: Contamination

If you peek into the blue recycling bins, you may notice items like food waste that contaminates the blue bins.

According to NEA, this sadly causes an estimated 40% of the recyclable items to not be able to be recycled. Whilst we can’t control what others place in the bins, one simple act is to make sure the items that we recycle are not contaminated and clean.

Recycling as a culture

Beyond contamination, recycling needs to start as a culture, and one of the best places to start is at home. Modelling for our family starts with us recycling, and them following suit will be a natural consequence.

We could start today with the simple act of getting a recycling bin in our houses. This is a low-hanging fruit that will make recycling more convenient.

And if you have a recycling bin in your house but aren’t using it actively, putting it next to your dustbin may just nudge you to recycle every time you are tempted to throw recyclable items into the dustbin.

Closing thoughts

Many of us in Singapore live busy lives, but with recycle bins downstairs at HDB blocks and outside our houses for landed property, recycling is actually not very inaccessible. The challenge is, what will you do next after this?

The despondent domestic recycling rate of 11% may still be in your mind, but the good news is that small steps, such as the placement of a recycling bin in our house and not contaminating our recycling bins, will be a positive start.

We are also here to help. Visit our recycling point locator to find the nearest recycling point, be it for plastic, textiles, e-waste or more.