SembWaste’s Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) Site Visit

The Packaging Partnership Programme (PPP) organised a site visit to SembWaste’s Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) on 7 December 2022. Participants enjoyed a close-up look into the workings of the MRF and learned about the challenges faced by the recycling industry in Singapore.

The session started with a briefing on the operational processes. Collected materials would be sorted and redistributed to the appropriate facilities to be recycled. For example, wooden pallets that were unable to be reused were collected, shredded, and sent to Jurong Island to be recycled. Other items such as glass or textiles would be exported overseas to be recycled overseas as Singapore currently did not have the facilities to recycle such materials. After the briefing, participants were taken on an eye-opening tour around the facility, before returning to the starting point for a Q&A session.

The SembWaste staff also shared some tips on improving the effectiveness of the blue bins as collection points for recyclables. These included:

1. raising awareness to prevent disposing of flammable items in the bins as such items risked catching fire;
2. disposing of materials without putting them in a bag as it would add another step to split the bags; and
3. removing small items such as bottle caps on the bottle as small items would be incinerated instead.

The next site visit is in the plans so do look out for our emails to reserve a spot!