SINGAPORE — To cut waste in Singapore, the Government will put into effect mandatory requirements on the packaging of consumer products within the next three to five years, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli said yesterday.

Once this is implemented, companies might have to report and publish their mandatory packaging waste reduction plan, and to meet packaging requirements and standards as well as recycling targets.

These were the three options discussed during an industry consultation held between last December and this May, the National Environment Agency (NEA) told TODAY.

Last year, 1.73 million tonnes of domestic waste was generated in Singapore, equivalent to more than 3,000 Olympic-size swimming pools filled with domestic waste. Of this, about one-third was packaging waste. In tandem with an increasing population and growing consumption, the amount of packaging waste here is expected to rise.

On the sidelines of the CleanEnviro Summit yesterday, Mr Masagos said that even with companies cutting back on packaging waste, the amount of such waste reduced — about 6,300 tonnes a year — is less than 1 per cent of the annual total of packaging waste discarded in Singapore.

More needs to be done, he said, adding that the response from the industry during the consultation was generally positive. “Companies recognised the need for a mandatory framework as (it) creates a level playing field and provides impetus for more actions to be taken to reduce waste.”

Elaborating on the options raised at the consultation, NEA said that mandatory reporting would include reporting the weight, volume and type of packaging placed on the market, as well as waste reduction and recycling statistics.

Under packaging standards, it would mean setting one or more of the following: Packaging weight, recyclability of packaging, or recycled content of the packaging.

The third option — for companies to meet recycling targets — might be based on the amount of packaging and type of packaging materials.

Ms Susan Chong, chief executive of packaging firm GreenPac, said that using the right combination of packaging can result in 20 to 40 per cent of cost savings for businesses: “(You can use) less material, or material from sustainable sources, or a combination of both. Many times, it can result in cost savings. There needs to be more education about this.”

NEA plans to enhance the existing Singapore Packaging Agreement, to work with companies to cut packaging waste, aiming to have a yearly reduction of 10,000 tonnes of such waste by 2020.