With domestic recycling rates stagnating at about 20 percent in recent years, buildings taller than four storeys in all new non-landed private residential developments will now be required to install dual chutes for refuse and recyclables, said Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor in Parliament on Wednesday.
“Studies have shown that households living in apartments with dual chute systems recycle up to three times more than those in apartments which do not have such facilities,” said Khor.
All new non-landed private residential developments with at least 500 dwelling units will also be required to install the Pneumatic Waste Conveyance System (PWCS) to improve the hygiene and efficiency of waste collection, reported Channel NewsAsia.
The two measures will apply to new applications submitted from 1 April 2018.
Meanwhile, lower-income families living in public housing blocks constructed between 1986 and 1992, and have yet to undergo the Home Improvement Programme, can look forward to water-efficient flushing systems.
This comes as national water agency PUB will be replacing the 9L water closets of around 6,000 households with 4L ones for free, reported Today Online.
In announcing the plan, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli revealed that households in Singapore used 148L of water per capita per day in 2016, down from the previous reported level of around 151L. But while the figure is just shy of the 2020 target of 147L, it is still a long way from Singapore’s target of 140L by 2030.
This article was edited by Chang Hui Chew.