The National Environment Agency (NEA) on Friday announced a $15 million fund for research into waste management technologies here.

The Environment Technology Research Programme (ETRP) will be administered jointly by the Environment and Water Industry Development Council (EWI) and NEA over three years.

The funding will be capped at $2 million per project.

EWI will launch the first Request-For-Proposal (RFP) next month and another in January.

The RFPs will be subsequently called twice a year, in January and July. Local companies, research institutes and institutes of higher learning will be eligible to apply.

The Environment Ministry hopes the funding will spur the search for sustainable and cost-effective waste management solutions, with energy recovery, material recovery and special waste management targetted as specific areas of focus.

Announcing the fund on Friday, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said: 'As our economy and population continue to grow, a major issue Singapore will face is the amount of waste generated. Hence, effective and sustainable urban waste management is certainly important for our long-term future.'

With Singapore gearing up to be home to 6.5 million people, it will have to face even bigger mounds of waste. Already, waste disposal rates have grown six-fold in 30 years.

In conjunction with World Environment Day on Friday, Dr Yaacob also announced the award of the inaugural batch of 16 scholarships, under The National Environment and Water (NEW) Scholarship programme.

The NEW Scholarship is a joint undergraduate programme offered by the PUB, the national water agency and NEA to students who have demonstrated both academic excellence and a passion for environmental causes.