Electronic Waste : Singapore: ALBA wins global tender for the construction and operation of electric waste collection system

Alba Group is the first environmental services provider to have been awarded the official contract for the collection of electric and electronic waste in Singapore. The National Environment Agency, the environment ministry in the city state, awarded the recycling specialist the contract following a global tender. The key purpose of the contract is the establishment of a collection system consisting of containers, temporary collection points at weekends, a take-back system at retailers, and a fee-based collection service throughout the urban area of Singapore. It is based on a new law that has established the principle of producer responsibility for the collection and recycling of waste in Singapore for the first time. In this respect, ALBA is also the first company to configure and implement a full range of services for the metropolitan centre of some 5.7 million people on this basis.

The material is to be sent to audited recycling firms selected by ALBA Singapore for its dismantling and reprocessing. The concept also includes providing more information to locals so as to familiarise them with the new system. The STEP UP app, which ALBA launched on securing the waste management contract for the district of Jurong last year, is also to be integrated for this purpose. With the app, people who collect electric waste are credited points which are converted into shopping discounts at various retail outlets.

“We are honoured to support Singapore on its journey to become a leading location for sustainability. We will continue to work with all our partners to bring Singapore a step closer to its goal of becoming a Zero Waste Nation,” explains Axel Schweitzer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ALBA Group. “To achieve this, we are linking our advanced waste management and recycling technology with digital offerings.”

ALBA Singapore used an artificial intelligence-based geo-information system to select the optimum collection points. This means that every resident of Singapore who lives in a building owned by the state housing association, which is 80 percent of the local population, is within a maximum distance of 500 metres from their nearest collection point – a major convenience. The collection points have containers in which electric waste, batteries and lights are collected separately. Due to the new law on producer responsibility for electric waste, the collection is funded by producers and importers, who pay a fixed fee as well as a surcharge for each kilogramme of recycled waste. The new system is scheduled to enter operation as soon as 1st July of this year.

The ALBA Group has been responsible for a completely new waste management system in the Jurong district of Singapore, which has a population of approximately 500,000, since April 2020. ALBA was awarded the contract in an international tender to set up a digitalised system to a high environmental standard. For this purpose, the “Singapore Trash Evolution Program” was developed, in which ALBA and its regional partners use innovations to create added sustainability with the motto “STEP UP Singapore”. The digitalisation of waste management in Singapore is considered to be one of the most ambitious environmental projects in Asia.

The ALBA Group, one of the leading recycling and environmental services companies as well as raw material providers worldwide, operates with its two brands – ALBA and Interseroh – within Germany, Europa and Asia. In 2018 its divisions generated an annual turnover of 2.0 billion Euros and employed a staff of approx. 8,800 employees. In 2019 alone ALBA Group saved 4.2 million tonnes of greenhouse gases compared to primary production and at the same time 32.3 million tonnes of primary raw materials through its recycling activities.