Branded Content
‘Repurposing’ fallen leaves, tracking waste data: How this S’pore SME enables its clients to meet ESG goals
Environmental services company BNL melds sustainability solutions with technology to help organisations such as Mandai Wildlife Reserve navigate reporting requirements and boost stakeholder confidence
BNL’s landscapers at Mandai Wildlife Reserve nourish the soil using mulch made from dead leaves and branches collected across the reserve.
PHOTO: SPH MEDIA
Visitors to Mandai Wildlife Reserve often admire the lush greenery. Few would think about what keeps it that way.
Every day, landscapers from home-grown environmental services company BNL trim branches, rake up fallen leaves and clear away dead plants – what most people assume is hauled away and thrown out.
A layer of mulch made from this “waste” quietly helps the landscape at Mandai thrive. The material locks in moisture, suppresses weeds and returns nutrients to the soil.
Elsewhere, BNL has also found ways to give other waste streams a second life, from treating fish waste for reuse as non-potable water to turning used Styrofoam boxes into material for new ones.
Taken together, such projects have helped the company move beyond simply collecting and disposing of waste.
Brothers Lee Hsin Chong (right) and Lee Seng Chong are part of the family team at BNF Group, which operates across three businesses specialising in industrial gas, environmental services and engineering.
PHOTO: SPH MEDIA
BNL’s managing director Lee Hsin Chong says: “We’ve grown steadily with purpose, and what I’m proudest of is how we’ve grown. We’ve moved from a manpower-led business to one that integrates robotics, IoT (Internet of Things) and sustainability thinking into how we deliver services.”
Today, BNL is building a broader business around sustainability solutions – recovering value from discarded materials, and using technology and data to help customers manage waste more responsibly and intelligently.
“The most meaningful measure of that growth isn’t a number – it’s the complexity of problems clients now trust us to solve,” says Lee.
Using technology to improve waste management
Founded by entrepreneur Frankie Lee in the 1980s, BNF – BNL’s parent company – started in engineering before expanding into natural gas. Upon acquiring BNL in the 1990s, it entered the cleaning and landscaping business, which generated waste. This prompted the group to build up its waste management arm in 2009.
“The generation that built BNL understood sustainability intuitively, even if it wasn’t called that back then,” says Lee, who is Frankie’s second son. “Doing more with less, not wasting resources and taking pride in a clean environment was a core value.”
When Lee took over the business from his father Frankie almost a decade ago with his elder brother Kian Chong and younger brother Seng Chong, the three set out to carry those values forward with technology. Kian Chong is a director at BNL, while Seng Chong holds the same role at BNF.
That push to harness technology led BNL to develop a proprietary system – launched in beta earlier this year – that helps its clients track and verify waste data across multiple sites and streams for sustainability reporting.
The system records the type and weight of waste collected along each route, uploading the data to the cloud in real time. BNL uses this data to help clients, from hotels to industrial and commercial property owners, establish baseline waste profiles and spot opportunities to cut waste.
To make mulch, dead plants and branches are first fed through a wood chipper, then left to ferment for about a week.
PHOTO: SPH MEDIA
Says Kian Chong: “With verifiable and accurate data on waste generation, we are able to support our customers with sustainability reporting such as their NEA mandatory waste reporting and carbon footprint tracking.”
Listed companies already have to report Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions – those produced directly by their own operations and purchased energy use – while large non-listed firms will face mandatory climate disclosures from 2030.
From the 2026 financial year, companies listed on the Straits Times Index will also be required to report Scope 3 emissions, which are indirect emissions generated across their wider value chains. Waste is one component of Scope 3 emissions.
Because these emissions can arise from supply chain activities such as procurement and transport, larger companies are placing greater emphasis on working with partners who can provide clearer, more reliable data across their operations.
Says Enterprise Singapore’s director for enterprise capabilities Ong Lixia: “Many enterprises want to do the right thing on sustainability, but knowing where to start can be daunting.
“With structured support and the right partners, businesses can better understand their emissions, build the capabilities they need and turn that into real operational change.”
Visual dashboards generated by BNL help its clients track waste more closely, support reporting needs and spot where they can cut waste.
PHOTO: SPH MEDIA
By helping its customers quantify Scope 3 emissions and strengthen carbon reporting, BNL gives them more confidence to meet growing demands from buyers and other stakeholders, and stronger grounds to earn their trust.
Says Kian Chong: “It’s a massive headache for waste generators to manage their waste data across multiple generation sources, and different stakeholders and categories. We are thankful that they leave it to us to help manage this part of the process and support them with the reports they need.”
He says that the system has made BNL more competitive for projects where sustainability is increasingly a requirement.
“Our revenue has certainly increased from the time of us launching the system,” he adds.
Partnering up for sustainability gains
BNL’s participation in the Green Excellence Programme (GEP), launched in 2025 by Mandai Wildlife Group and the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF), highlighted the value of site-level waste tracking and helped shape the software’s development.
The GEP falls under the SMF’s Chief Sustainability Officer-as-a-Service initiative that is supported by Enterprise Singapore’s (EnterpriseSG) Enterprise Sustainability Programme.
BNL Group is electrifying parts of its fleet, which operates 24/7 across its cleaning, landscaping and waste management divisions.
PHOTO: SPH MEDIA
Through the GEP, BNL also gained a clearer understanding of its own emissions profile, helping it identify opportunities to decarbonise its operations.
The company continues to explore new ways to apply technology to business challenges. These include digital initiatives, and waste valorisation initiatives such as the digestion of organic waste.
(From left) Lee, with older brother Kian Chong, his father Frankie and younger brother Seng Chong – two generations steering the family business forward.
PHOTO: BNL
Kian Chong says these projects are helping BNL draw more useful data from its existing operations, from waste weights to carbon-related information, and turn that into broader sustainability solutions.
The Lee brothers say the values their father instilled continue to shape the company’s approach to sustainability.
Says Lee: “We care deeply for what our environment’s going to be like in the future, and we care deeply for how Singapore can become a regional hub for sustainability practices.
“We strive to play our part in the sustainability movement and support others along the way.”
This story is part of a series on how companies can grow their business through sustainability, with the support of Enterprise Singapore.
