How Singapore Handles Six Million Pounds of Trash Daily | WSJ A to B
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- Опубликовано: 27 май 2024
- Singapore is famous for being one of the cleanest countries thanks to its unique waste management system. As the country’s population continues to grow, the amount of waste generated is also rising. Beyond their waste-to-energy plants and offshore landfills, the Southeast Asian country is looking to find new methods to discard their trash.
WSJ follows how the Singaporean government manages its waste so efficiently: from trash collection, incineration, to landfill.
0:00 Singapore has one landfill
0:40 Trash collection
2:55 Transferring the ash
4:25 Semakau Landfill
#Singapore #Waste #WSJ
i feel like this industry is under appreciated, thank you to all workers. I always feel bad about my own waste, esp when people don't finish food.
Glad to see Singapore are using a variety of methods to handle waste. I think the glass that’s disposed could also be effectively recycled, but you would have establish laws where all products that use glass jars or bottles can be exchanged for a monetary value when returning for recycling.
The infrastructure for recycling at residential homes is quite lacking to support sorting of waste for recycling. Most of us stay in government apartments - newer apartments have a dedicated rubbish chute for all recyclables (no sorting), while older apartments only have recycle bins in the neighborhood that people don't use.
TLDR: we are starting to recycle more at the domestic level based on my observation, but we are definitely lagging behind other developed countries in this department.
Agreed! I’m a Singaporean and have been to Europe, Japan and Korea. I was surprised at how much recycling/trash cleaning efforts they have compared to Singapore even though they do not have land scarcity like Singapore (Mind you I visited during pre-covid times). Singapore only started this recycling in exchange for money concept in late 2019/2020 and until now is still quite rare to find those machines.
@@cnaizhen😊
Singapore goverment would not want to give out that much money for recycling compared to the other develop countries such as europe and japan
@@xlben10 blablabla
I'm from Singapore and I went for an exclusive tour to Semakau Landfill once (tours are probably unavailable or rare nowadays)
I am very impressed with how the landfill island is slowly becoming greener like a park
Living here for the past 5 years and it's just simply so clean, other than the occasional little litters, sg is really clean and the fact that they manage to keep it clean in such a dense and small nation is incredible to me
The no gum law is a major helper
@@griddycheese I doubt gum waste even contributes 5% trash. Most trash are from fast food or packaging or groceries.
@@kanduyog1182 True but gum graffiti is a long persisting problem. Go to any of their old "MRT" stations, stick your hand under a seat and sweep across. You'll find... interesting things there, even long after the no gum law has been passed.
@@gonggong9078 +1. Singapore is a cleaned city, not a clean city.
If anyone thinks Sg is that clean, they should take up residence in Western part of Sg, namely after Jurong Town Hall.
As a singaporean, there’s a new initiative called NEWSand (similar naming to NEWater). It uses the ash for construction
I love these types of videos (trash, laundry, kitchens, infrastructure, etc.)!
Very interesting and in depth. Surprising how little acceptance waste to energy has in the US
How is it surprising when the US is the third largest country in the world and Singapore is smaller than New York City.
@@tdkxChina has many waste of energy plants and it has a larger population than the US, if the country wants to do it, it can. Just that US is always stuck in a political limbo and making these plants does not sound 'interesting' to their voters.
@@tdkxlol!!!!! New york is a total disaster! They have to send their waste hundreds of miles away to landfill or barely recycling.
@@tbh9088so what's the solution then!? Continue filling usable lands with garbage!? Why can't we create a better exhaust filtration system!?!
@@tbh9088 where does all that energy comes from!? Singapore isn't a very good place with wind or solar potential! They are even trying to see how they can import energy from Australia for example.
Just want to say thank you to everyone who does something good for the environment
I fully support this type of recycling.
Singapore continues to impress me
Thank you WSJ. This shows what an advanced and respectable society Singapore is... a community based on education, science and ecological respect. These qualities lift an ethnicity up, rioting, looting, burning does not.
The rioting looting and burning only occurs due to the lack of acknowledgement of economic and racial disparity in the USA. It also occurs due to the failed public education system. I don't understand what point your comment intends to make.
@@MPaxsu i think he means all blm does is riot for nothing the entire BLM movement was founded by people with no struggle
@@MPaxsu His point, I think, is that those actions don't really help solve the problem, which is a statement I'm 50/50 on. Yes it does not help the situation but it does highlight that there is a problem and it also acts like a form of blackmail where "the people" threaten the government that if they don't do something, such embarrassments will continue. The unfortunate side effect is that very often, uninvolved people will end up footing the bill for such vandalism and usually from the low economic side store owners, which ironically makes the problem worse if that poor shop owner loses everything he owns due to arson or looting.
So... 50/50 on the topic.
We have a lot to learn from Singapore.
Singapore learned it from Europe.
@@Dwight.K.Schrute.Not really
@@Dwight.K.Schrute.Europe sent their garbage to Asian countries.
@@Dwight.K.Schrute.not at all. Europe still love by its glory of 18th centuey.
@@cnachopchopnewsagency Learn English, try again.
Well done Singapore. But let’s keep going better!
In 2005 as a Primary 1 Kid, I was told Semakau will fill up in 2040. Perhaps, back then our education on recycling was really bad, had we bothered to teach those children then, maybe now I might be more aware. Like maybe we need to look towards more composting for fruit and vegetable waste for a simple start, this is very easy to sort out and implement.
Its amazing how we tried to stop plastic bags in 2007 and only today in 2023 when I'm this old do we have the will power to stop plastic bags.
My mainpoint is this, we need better easy to implement recycling and waste reduction and teach it to the kids. Whatever we teach well or poorly, will be reflected 20 years later. You teach children during SARS how to wash their hands, in 2020 that 5 year old is 22 and can fall back on all the complicated steps how to wash hands.
This was great and informative. It seems like Singapore has their trash management skills at a high level and everything is very well thawed out. Hopefully the Ash can be used to build roads or something like houses
Innovative and proactive.
Amazing & informative, great to see next steps post garbage collection
I love this. It's awesome investment to the earth and Singapore .
This is a great initiative
Singapore is great nation and role model to the world
Waste to energy us the way. You reduce the amount of trash that goes to a landfill, and you also get energy
Very good video
Wow I never thought Charlie’s energy saving tips for the bar would be applied for an entire country but… Always Sunny never disappoints.
wait till you see switzerland ...
i admire Singapore for utilizing even smallest opportunity to its max, while their neighbor with huge lands , Indonesia is destroying their own natural resources such as the forest in Kalimantan to mine coal, palm plantation in Sumatra etc
Amazing
I only came here to find out how 6 million ×365 = 16.3 billion.
I left having learned that almost half of the 16.3 billion pounds of waste are put in a landfill, even though 55% is recycled, 42% is incinerated, with ashes and the other 3% put into the landfill. That is a lot of ash!
Bravo 👍❤️
Unfortunately the nation still experiences difficulties in getting its citizens to adopt a recycling mindset and despite efforts, the results are abysmal.
Singaporeans’ addiction to convenience and inherent laziness to sort and recycle… except for a few conscientious ones.
I have experienced this too, it’s a little shocking.
@@eatdriveplay not at all true most people use tupperware and reuse plastic containers every single bag my family gets from buying food or groceries gets stored for later use this is a horrible misrepresentation it is only a small amount of people with no care not the entire nation
@@griddycheese nah, we’re the minority, not the majority. :) most people throw recycleables at the nearest bin…. Lots of metal, paper, plastic goes to incineration instead of recycling.
@@eatdriveplay i usually dont see much litter
Yes and Can generate Electricity too.
very interesting
WOW this amazing no let noting die for noting meak power
Thats how Vienna has done it since decades.
Since Singapore is already reclaiming land in the sea, could this ash be used to fill those projects? This seems like an endless supply of land for Singapore, unless the ash is somehow uniquely unsuited to the task.
Ash is too fine, they don't really hold together. The same thing is said about Saudi Arabia's sand, people asked why not use sand from the desert to reclaim, because it is not suitable.
Sure you can "reclaim" land use the ashes but you can't build heavy structures on it for many years, maybe grow trees on it would be fine.
This ash filled land can't be used as water catchment area and if they're close to one, contamination.
The video has already answered your question. Ash from incineration plants are brought to Semakau landfill.
Eventually, Singapore will run out of territorial waters. It's bordered closely to the north by Malaysia and to the south by the Strait of Malacca (a major international waterway) and beyond that Indonesia. It's like if NYC were its own country--it's surrounded by New Jersey and New York.
@@jackuzi8252Unless if they can purchase those territorial coordinates from Indonesia. And Indonesia would happy to do so because Singapore afterall is a taxhaven for the military and political corrupt elite in Indo.
❤. Managing wastes.
Put temp units in C as well
Soon the world will follow Singapore’s solution to handle wastes.
Singapore can build a manmade reclaimed land on the top of landfill. They can have more affordable and floating houses.
This serves as good PR for Singapore as well as highlighting important waste management strategies.
What other solution is there? It's a good plan, and technology is getting much better. If Singapore stays up to date, itbwill get cleaner, and cleaner, and more efficient. God job Singapore, your American friends salute you all!!
There's no such thing as megawatts per hour. Megawatts is already joules per hour. Or did you mean megawatt-hours per hour, which is just megawatts?
One megawatt per hour equals 1000 kilowatts per hour. One kilowatt per hour equals 1000 watts per hour. One watt per hour equals 1000 milliwatts per hour. And so on ad infinitum, like a repeating decimal.
acceleration of burning process?? LOL
Waste to energy is the best option for residual waste and new plants emmit next to no pollutants
cement?
Even the landfill is clean, dam Singapore.
odd to add hard subtitles
This proves waste to energy can be an effective measure to achieve our goal of making the planet healthier. I'm sure some of the Environmentalist as myself will be able to figure out the process of recycling and reusing the ashes as well. The future seems clean and green.
However when you search the internet, 90% research says Waste to Energy is harmful and not effective solution for trash. What do you make of this? Is it actually viable for us to use WtE en masse?
I got do this job before as the former civil servant, under the National Environment Agency is a statutory board under the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment for the Caretaker of Singapura.
Can they not use the ash they produce as an additive to cement?
We use them to do land reclamation.
It was mentioned in the video, they are using it as road paving material.
Well done Singapore.
Haiti needs to invest in something like this
"Megawatts per hour" is a nonsensical term, just like horsepower per hour. It's just megawatts. Imagine hearing the Wall Street Journal taking about gasoline car fuel efficiency and saying miles per gallon per hour.
Impermeable membrane eh? Heard that before.
what the heck is kW per hour?
6:08 Megawatts per hour? Thats a nonsensical statement... either "megawatt-hours per hour" or just "megawatts" is corect
Naaah indo ga usah export pasir ke singapore, export yg ada di bantar gebang aja, sama aja kan bisa jadi ash untuk new land 😊
💚
There is very little recycling in Singapore mainly due to the design of rubbish shutes in appartments and peoples lack of recycling habits
The Claw...
Singapore is getting sugar honey ice tea together 👍
its literately that scene from toy story 3
Any trash that is biodegradable is good including us! We just need to focus more on rest.
how? sending them to africa or india or some down mariana trench
Sadly lots of countries struggle to make WTE since its a non profitable business
Man, didn’t realise they have lizard/monitor there 3:45
Alot here.
16.3 billion pounds.. wow.. as comparison, my motorbike only weighs around 6400 ounces
The Solution to South Africa’s Load Shedding
i see😊
However, very few citizens are actively practicing recycling like many countries.
Give them time most of these people are either the older generation or some dumbasses who dont know how to recycle
For the sake of non-American viewers, give the metric system equivalents of measurements.
At First it was looking like a British Queens Crown😅
Denmark will take it we use it for energy
Why are there English subtitles? He is speaking English.
I am deaf. Subtitles are helpful.
That person at 3:52 speaks perfect English, so why do they need subtitles?
I think it's customary in Singaporean documentaries on some TV channels to subtitle everybody. I think it may be to unconsciously help people familiarize themselves with certain words' spelling.
Have you stopped and think before that maybe deaf people watches RUclips too?
Babe, wake up. New WSJ trash video just dropped
140 megawatts for 2,40,000 houses, every house stands at 500 watts only?
average monthly electricity usage for an HDB flat (~80% of population) was 376 kwh/month which averages out to 515w
I thought it's gold and diamond 😅
they put the rubbish (non-reuseable) in the downside, then on the top side they they put soil then to cover it they planted it with mangrove, they call this save for the Environment hahaha
Off topic but I just released that Singaporeans sound west African when they speak English
Nice
By 3050, they mind end up with one more island to be called Singapore 2.0 made up of ashes 😄
I wonder if the ashes are good fertilizer? Grow trees to absorb the CO2 from the air.
It's burnt plastic and trash? How can that be used as a fertilizer? It would straight up kill crops.
@@ecognitio9605 Or if crops grew, you wouldn't want to eat them.
It's used to pave roads near traffic stops with a composite ash and concrete mixture. Which are highly resistant to Engine oil.
@@ecognitio9605 plastics are carbon though, it can still be used. If you looked at the land in the video, you'll see a lot of greenery growing on their landfill, along with that shot of the monitor lizard living there. It looks like the place is developing an ecosystem of its own.
Why don't they dig up the old landfill and start burning that to make space.
Unfortunately, there are houses and factories on the old landfill these days lol.
i think they should take all those ashes to Africa as landfill it will be cheap and better
Africa is already in a bad state this is not good idea
So this Walls Street Journal report was a bit disappointing! Incineration of consumer waste is very common maybe not in the U.S.
Need to get to the root cause - need to stop the production of materials that can’t be efficiently recycled
Apparently our English is incomprehensible that you need subtitles. Geez!
That landfill is building a causeway.
When it hits Los Angeles it will have been inside US territorial waters long enough for Lee Kwan Yew VI to be eligible to run for Governor of California -- which he will win at a walk.
Arnie says "He'll be back". 🤣🤣
Pounds!!! seriously, you converted from Singapore SI to Imperial to present this?
The Empire strikes back. lol.
Recycling is just a myth, it's reuse that we have to focus on. Reusable are always left behind by these recycling countries.
Multiply that by THOUSANDS of cities in the world and someone better take a serious look at overpopulation.
Such a wealthy country too
That's energy going to waste.
Pounds 🙄
All I heard was whistling "S's" from your tongue; very difficult to listen to you.
Land is cheaper in the united states.
Are Americans really fascinated by the most simple way of waste processing? This has been the standard for decades in most of the European cities. Only 55% recycling is really not an especially good number for recycling, you can even hear glass breaking when the truck dumps its contents. If they want to tackle their trash problem, they should ban single use plastics&containers and put a value on any can, bottle, ... used.
We could all do this, don’t need a universal degree 😊,
Speak metric, dont insult these engineers with your Frredumb measures
haha
Singaporeans.must be paying heavy taxes for these
They ship it striaght across the water to Malaysia to deal with. The Singaporean way 😂
Right, as if they don't have enough problems with Malaysia already lol.
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