Reader's Response - Final Draft

The article “Parliament: S'pore looks to create Newoil by transforming waste plastic into alternative fuel” by Liu (2020) highlights Singapore’s approach to manage the rising amount of waste generated every year and discusses how recycling can help Singapore to move closer to a zero-waste nation and a low-carbon economy. Liu states that packaging waste is one of the biggest waste streams in Singapore, such that National Environment Agency (NEA) will start a deposit refund scheme to encourage recycling. Usually, plastic can be recycled by mechanical and chemical recycling. The amount of packaging used per year should be recorded by the producers and retailers for the sake of the only landfill. Besides plastic waste, Liu claims that there will be three new facilities to process more than 50,000 tonnes of e-waste annually. Liu highlights the Resource Sustainability Act will be launched that requires food enterprises to segregate the waste. NEA also introduces Newsand, which is incinerated waste and used as construction material. Liu also states that Singapore intends to transform plastic to form Newoil to replace fossil fuel petroleum in the form of pyrolysis oil. If successful, economic and job opportunities can be created for Singaporeans. Although the title of the article is about Newoil, it focuses mainly on Singapore’s methods of recycling to tackle the three key waste streams: e-waste, food, and packaging. While the process of pyrolysis oil made from plastic can be new to the industry, the development of Newoil will help Singapore in reducing carbon emissions and closing the plastic waste loop.

 

Firstly, the new recycling technology of Newoil will assist in reducing carbon emissions. As mentioned by Liu (2020), plastic can be recycled by mechanical and chemical recycling. However, certain types of plastic waste, such as contaminated plastics, are not suitable for mechanical recycling. This is because one piece of contaminated plastic waste can contaminate the whole bin of plastic and end up in landfills, leading to a low recycling rate of plastic (Tan, 2018). Thus, they can be processed to form wax or oils via pyrolysis (Fivga & Dimitriou, 2018). According to Cefic (2020), it is proven that pyrolysis can reduce carbon emissions as compared to incineration. Also, it can replace sending waste to Semakau Landfill for incineration. Thus, it can lengthen the lifespan of Semakau Landfill, which is the only landfill in Singapore.

 

Secondly, the development of Newoil will close the plastic waste loop. In conventional mechanical recycling, plastics will be melted and remolded to form lower-grade plastic products. However, this means that the number of times that a piece of plastic can be recycled is limited as the more a piece of plastic is recycled, the lower its properties and performance. Chemical recycling or pyrolysis can break down the plastics into monomers, thus, the monomers can be recovered and transformed into other chemicals or products with higher values (Ketchell, 2021). It is vital to have closed-loop recycling as it can help lessen the production of more plastic that might reduce the harm to the environment and expand the lifespan of Semakau Landfill (Ravenhall, 2019). Also, exploring more advanced technology in closing the plastic waste loop can create more economic and job opportunities for Singaporeans (NEA, 2020). Therefore, Singapore can take advantage of the development of Newoil in terms of environmental benefits, economic growth, and job opportunities.

 

Although the development of Newoil can bring lots of benefits, the process of transforming pyrolysis oil from plastic waste still costs higher compared to conventional crude oil (Fivga & Dimitriou, 2018). This is because the development of recycling technology is still quite new. More studies and research on the pyrolysis of plastics are required to be done to set industrial standards or commercialised guidelines. The cost of maintaining the facilities undergoing pyrolysis is also high (Baranski, 2021). In my opinion, the development of Newoil can still be beneficial to bring Singapore closer to a zero-waste nation and a low-carbon economy due to its potential in reducing plastic waste.

 

In a nutshell, while the development of Newoil might be new in Singapore, there are many benefits in terms of environmental impact that bring advantages to Singapore. Therefore, the development of Newoil is encouraged to help preserve the environment as well as the growing economy. However, “no solution to the world’s plastic crisis is as simple as it looks” (Baker-Munton, 2019). This is because any kind of recycling method can be costly to maintain and difficult to handle, for instance, the waste must be managed before it can be recycled to form a new product. Thus, 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) can be applied in our daily life to live more sustainably.

 

 

 

Reference

Baker-Munton, C. (2018, July 30th). Waste To Energy: Money to burn. Globe. https://southeastasiaglobe.com/money-to-burn/

 

 

Baranski, A. (2021, May 25th). Plastic Pyrolysis Pros and Cons: Converting Plastics Into Energy. Profolus. https://www.profolus.com/topics/plastic-pyrolysis-pros-and-cons-converting-plastics-into-energy/

 

Cefic. (2020, October 1st). Chemical Recycling: Greenhouse gas emission reduction potential of an emerging waste management route. https://cefic.org/app/uploads/2020/12/CEFIC_Quantis_report_final.pdf

 

Fivga, A., Dimitriou, I. (2018, April 15). Pyrolysis of plastic waste for production of heavy fuel substitute: A techno-economic assessment. Energy, 149, 865-874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.02.094

 

Ketchell, M. (2021, March 26th). Plastic pollution: how chemical recycling technology could help fix it. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/plastic-pollution-how-chemical-recycling-technology-could-help-fix-it-156346

 

Liu, V. (2020, March 4th). Parliament: S'pore looks to create Newoil by transforming waste plastic into alternative fuel. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/parliament-singapore-looks-to-transform-waste-plastic-into-oil

 

National Environment Agency (NEA). (2020, October 16th). NEA and Shell TO Jointly Explore New Chemical Recycling Value Chain To Turn Plastic Waste Into Chemicals. https://www.nea.gov.sg/media/news/news/index/nea-and-shell-to-jointly-explore-new-chemical-recycling-value-chain-to-turn-plastic-waste-into-chemicals

 

Ravenhall, L. (2019, May 10th). What is closed loop recycling? The Waste Management & Recycling Blog. https://www.forgerecycling.co.uk/blog/what-is-closed-loop-recycling/

 

Tan, K. E. (2018, November 12nd). One piece of contaminated plastic can taint the whole recycling bin. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-on-the-web/one-piece-of-contaminated-plastic-can-taint-the-whole-recycling-bin

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