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Shoes in recycling project being sold in Indonesia: Edwin Tong says processes tightened and lessons to be learnt across agencies

SINGAPORE — The process chain for recycling old sports shoes to be converted into material for use in sport infrastructure has been tightened after some donated shoes were resold in Indonesia, Parliament heard on Monday (March 20).

One of the bins (right) used to collect old sports shoes that are meant to be recycled into jogging tracks and other facilities under a programme by Sport Singapore and partners.

One of the bins (right) used to collect old sports shoes that are meant to be recycled into jogging tracks and other facilities under a programme by Sport Singapore and partners.

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  • The process chain for recycling donated sports shoes has been tightened for a programme run by Sport Singapore and partners
  • This was after some of the donated shoes were sold in Indonesia
  • Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, announced extra measures to be taken
  • Although the process should be tightened, it should not be "overly burdensome", he added
  • He hopes that the episode would not deter the public from supporting such schemes

SINGAPORE — The process chain for recycling old sports shoes to be converted into material for use in sport infrastructure has been tightened after some donated shoes were resold in Indonesia, Parliament heard on Monday (March 20).

Speaking in Parliament, Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, said that extra measures added to the "old shoe new future" programme run by Sport Singapore (SportSG) and partners include:

  • Appointing only contractors and subcontractors not involved in any second-hand trading of textiles or shoes
  • Transporting all collected shoes to one of the contractors Alba-WH’s premises without any aggregation or sorting at any intermediary premises
  • Conducting regular spot checks and inspections on the premises of contractors and subcontractors

These measures and the lessons learnt from the episode will also be shared across other recycling projects undertaken by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and other government agencies, Mr Tong said.

The recycling initiative was launched in July 2021 as part of a national effort to recycle sports shoes into material for facilities such as fitness corners and playgrounds. It is spearheaded by SportSG and petrochemicals giant Dow Inc.

Alba-WH was appointed as the project partner responsible for collecting donated sports shoes from shoe recycling bins across the island. It had subcontracted part of its collection to Yok Impex, an aggregator here. 

In January this year, news agency Reuters reported that 11 pairs of sports shoes it had donated to the programme were tracked and found on sale in Indonesia. Reuters installed tracking devices in the shoes to see what happened to them.

After an internal investigation launched by SportSG and its project partners, Yok Impex’s services were terminated after it was found that some of the shoes intended for recycling left the firm's premises and went on sale in Indonesia.

PROCESS SHOULD NOT BE 'OVERLY BURDENSOME'

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim, Member of Parliament (MP) for Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency (GRC), asked about how SportSG could use contractual and other measures to fine-tune its dealings with its partners and subcontractors.

Mr Tong said that "some oversight, some checks, some unannounced, some audits, some reports — all these can be put into the contract and provisions for reporting".

However, he added that "it's important to also bear in mind that this is otherwise not a complicated contract, not a complicated arrangement”.

“Steps have been taken to correct this between AlbaWH and its various other subcontractors, those that it may appoint in place of Yok Impex, but we'll certainly see the extent to which we can impart into these subcontracts some other mechanisms that tighten the process – without being overly burdensome, which then in turn increases the cost of collection.”

Mr Dennis Tan, MP for Hougang, asked about the frequency of inspections to be conducted on the premises of contractors and subcontractors.

Mr Tong replied that this would be left to the discretion of the project partners.

“One of the learning points from this is to precisely conduct these checks, often also unannounced, so that there will be not just the check itself, but the whole framework and a system to deter activities that don't comply with the contractual scope of the obligations,” Mr Tong said.

10,000KG OF SHOES TURNED INTO SPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

In October last year, the Singapore International Chamber Of Commerce named the recycling initiative and its project partners as the "most sustainable collaboration" at its annual awards gala.

Responding to TODAY’s query on whether the organisation will review its award decision, its chief executive Victor Mills said: “The regrettable incident does not undermine the purpose of the collaboration nor its value.

“We further note that the six collaborating partners have apologised for the regrettable incident and taken remedial steps to protect the supply chain.”

To date, 10,000kg of shoes collected through the campaign have been processed and used in sport infrastructure such as the running track at the Kallang Football Hub, and an 888-metre jogging trail under construction in Jurong Town. 

The remaining recycled granules are planned for use in sport centres in Serangoon and Punngol, the Bukit Canberra integrated sports and community hub next to Sembawang MRT Station, as well as in jogging tracks, fitness corners and playgrounds around Singapore.

“I hope that this episode will not deter the public from supporting such initiatives as these are important and impactful in protecting our environment,” Mr Tong said.

Ultimately, this initiative has led to more environment-friendly material being used in the construction of public sports infrastructure, he added.

Related topics

SportSG MCCY recycling donation

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