SINGAPORE — From January, residents living in four areas — Ang Mo Kio-Toa Payoh, Hougang-Punggol, Woodlands-Yishun and Tanglin-Bukit Merah — will have to pay more for refuse collection services when they come under the Uniform Fee (UF) scheme, which charges according to housing type.

Currently, those living in Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats in these areas pay between S$4.82 and S$5.81 a month for the service, while those living in landed properties pay between S$17.12 and S$19.75.

Under the UF scheme, residents in these four sectors will pay higher refuse collection fees of S$7.49 and S$24.81 a month for HDB and landed premises, respectively. Lower- and middle-income households that are eligible for U-Save rebates will get them automatically credited to their utilities accounts, which would help offset the increase in refuse collection fees.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) introduced the UF scheme in 2012 to get households across different parts of Singapore on a common fee for waste collection service, according to housing type.

In a press release yesterday, the NEA said the scheme will allow the nine Public Waste Collection (PWC) sectors to be consolidated to six sectors progressively, each time a new PWC contract for the respective sector commences.

“Consolidation of sectors will allow the PWC industry to realise efficiency gains and raise standards and productivity. This will lessen the impact of rising costs in labour and operations on refuse collection fees, and help moderate fees in future,” it said.

The UF scheme was first implemented in Pasir Ris-Tampines and Bedok in July 2012, then in Jurong, Clementi and the City in October last year. The next biennial UF scheme review is scheduled in January 2017.