Food waste collection trial to start at selected HDB blocks

Food waste will be collected from some Housing Board residents in a new year-long trial, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said yesterday.

Waste collection company 800 Super will start the trial in November in the Ang Mo Kio-Toa Payoh collection sector, which covers Bishan, Ang Mo Kio, Serangoon and Toa Payoh.

Ten smart lockers will be placed at selected HDB blocks. The lockers come with a remote access smart system, QR code scanner and weighing scale.

Participating households will be issued an air-tight reusable plastic container to store food waste. They can drop off their filled containers into the smart lockers and pick up an empty one.

Using a unique QR code, households will weigh their filled containers and input the amount of food waste deposited to get reward points. The reward points, given via a mobile application, can be accumulated and exchanged for grocery vouchers from 800 Super.

If the trial is successful, 800 Super will deploy another 83 smart lockers to other blocks in the sector.

Meanwhile, all residents in the Ang Mo Kio-Toa Payoh sector can expect to see a new fleet of innovative waste collection vehicles as part of efforts to improve the productivity and sustainability of public waste collectors, said the NEA.

The fleet includes 14 electric vehicles, a side-loading recycling truck, and four dual compartment collection trucks. The electric vehicles will make up almost 45 per cent of the fleet, said the agency.

The dual compartment collection trucks have separate chambers to collect recyclables and garden waste at the same time.

Said NEA: "Dual compartment collection trucks will help to reduce the number of collection trips, as only one truck will be dispatched during the collection rounds at landed premises."

Efficiency will also be boosted with the use of side-loading trucks, which provide a higher capacity in the collection of recyclables and require only one collection crew member. NEA added that all of 800 Super's vehicles are equipped with a 360-degree camera monitoring system, with live-viewing on the driver's cabin monitor to minimise blind spots.

The new fleet will be deployed progressively over eight months starting from Oct 1.

Other innovative changes that will be implemented in the Ang Mo Kio-Toa Payoh sector include stationary compactors to replace 32 mobile ones at the bin centres.

NEA said: "Unlike mobile compactors which need to be individually hauled to the incineration plants, refuse from multiple stationary compactors can be consolidated by the same refuse collection truck for disposal.

"With the implementation of such technologies, 800 Super will be able to reduce the number of collection routes by about 11 per cent.

"These efforts will reduce the number of collection trucks on the road, improve productivity and service efficiency, thereby reducing the overall carbon footprint of waste collection services."

Besides the food waste collection trial, 800 Super will also conduct a trial to improve collection of recyclables in the sector. The timeline has not been confirmed, but sensors will be installed in recycling bins in some HDB estates from November.

"This will allow real-time monitoring of bin capacity to facilitate more responsive collection and reduce incidents of bin overflow," said NEA.

The waste collection contract for the Ang Mo Kio-Toa Payoh sector which was clinched by home-grown firm 800 Super starts from Oct 1 and lasts till 2028.