SINGAPORE - Companies on Jurong Island have found innovative ways to manage resources as part of efforts to lower costs and meet their environmental sustainability targets.

Take, for example, Sembcorp Industries, which has been licensed to manage a range of shared utilities, services and integrated infrastructure on Jurong Island.

To improve the rate of recovery of "waste heat" - a by-product of plant processes - Sembcorp worked with Nanyang Technological University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University to develop an advanced absorption chiller.

By using seawater for direct cooling, the absorption chiller can safely recover up to 60 per cent of heat from hot condensate, compared with just 30 per cent previously.

Hot condensate is then harnessed and channelled to power the production of chilled water, which is then supplied to customers.

Last year, its initiatives helped to treat more than three million cubic m of industrial wastewater and recover more than 340,000 tonnes of waste to generate energy.

Sembcorp had also embarked on various optimisation projects last year to collectively save approximately 8,250MWh of electricity and 16,000 cubic m of water.

Similarly, ExxonMobil has managed to reduce the waste generated from its facilities.

It is also working with environmental solutions firm Zerowaste Asia to evaluate opportunities to recycle and convert waste from its operating facilities for potential use in paving walkways and landscaping.

In the longer term, the Singapore Energy Centre - a consortium funded by industry members, including ExxonMobil - will be looking at developing solutions to reduce carbon emissions from power and industrial sources.

Ongoing research includes the potential for capturing carbon from the manufacturing sector and storing it within the region, which could help reduce Singapore's carbon emissions.