Politics

Budget debate: $220 million in R&D for urban solutions and sustainability under national research plan


SINGAPORE – Around $220 million is being pumped into national research initiatives focusing on sustainability, in areas such as water technologies and projects that can squeeze value from waste, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said on Tuesday (March 8).

Almost one-third – $80 million will go to research projects that look at how resources can be recovered from Singapore’s key waste streams – plastics, electronic waste and food, said Ms Fu.

“It will support the development of useful and safe applications for treated waste residue and low carbon waste treatment options,” she added during a parliamentary session on Singapore’s green efforts.

The initiative adds to the earlier Closing the Waste Loop initiative, which was awarded $45 million in funding in 2017.

Fifteen research and development projects have been funded by the National Environment Agency under the previous programme, with seven getting commercial interest.

For instance, Republic Polytechnic has in collaboration with building materials provider EnGro Corporation, formulated a technique to treat incineration bottom ass for use as construction material, she noted.

This could enable ash to be diverted from Semakau Landfill, thus prolonging its lifespan, she said.

The Semakau landfill is the country’s only landfill, and its lifespan has already been shortened from the projected 2045 to 2035.

Under the Singapore Green Plan 2030, which sets out green targets for the country, the Republic wants to reduce waste sent to Semakau landfill per capita per day by 20 per cent by 2026, with the goal of reaching 30 per cent by 2030.

Another $87 million will go into water technology research, such as how to make the energy-intensive process of desalination more efficient, or how used water can be better treated.

This will support the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute and the Separation Technologies Applied Research and Translation centre.

In 2023, a desalination integrated validation plant will be commissioned to trial “promising technologies” to reduce the energy consumption of desalination to less than 2 kilowatt-hour per cubic meter of water.

Traditional desalination technology typically uses about 3.5 kWh per cubic meter.



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