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The National Environmental Agency (NEA) plays an active role in food waste management in Singapore. By studying the pattern of food behaviour of Singapore consumers, food that has gone out of date is the #1 reason to food waste in Singapore. As such, NEA has launched a series of management strategies that aims to educate the public to partake in sustainable behaviours.

  • Campaign and Outreach Programs

Campaigns and outreach programs designed by the NEA aims to bring the individual and their social circle to play an active role in reducing food wastage at home and in food centers. Campaigns such as “Love Your Food”, a handy guide that provides suggestions on food handling and meal preparation with leftover food. In addition, this campaign sees to a cooking cook off by the citizens in challenging them to create innovative meal recipes that is broadcasted on Youtube. The “Waste Less, Save More” seeks to achieve lesser food wasting behaviours in Singaporeans by incentivising them with the possible idea of more savings in the future.

Furthermore, the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) has collaborated with various stakeholders such as supermarkets and manufacturing industries by developing a guidebook on food waste minimisation in the industry. These 2 effort from the Governmental body sees the collaboration with important stakeholders and incentivising the public in order to get them to engage in sustainable food consumption behaviour. Furthermore, the creation of table top stickers that are pasted at food halls and hawker centers acts as prompts to encourage consumers to buy a smaller portion and not over order that can contribute to food waste. Here are several poster examples that were part of the campaign.

  • 3 ‘R’s

Educational programs launched by the NEA targets schools that encourages students and staff to participate in segregating their food with on-site food waste digesters. As part of the “Love Your Food” program, NEA has partnered with schools to devise learning journeys to food waste treatment plants in Singapore, as well as contracting community partners that further provide informational knowledge of food waste treatment. Cost and impacts of food waste is also delivered that aims to increase the knowledge and change the attitude of students, and motivating them to engage in sustainable food waste behaviours.

As part of their 3 ‘R’s program, NEA has also encouraged organisations and individuals to donate food to banks and the less fortunate. Individuals can donate food that they no longer wish to consume while organisation such as supermarkets can contact the Food Bank of Singapore where excess and unsold products will be collected and donated to needy families and households.

  • Enhanced Food Waste Treatment
Credit: NEA, new food waste digester

A multitude of on-site food waste treatment have been launched to hotels, supermarkets, shopping malls and schools for recycling efforts. Lesser cost is associated when food waste is segregated at their point of generation, rather than separating it after it is mixed with general waste. On-site food waste treatment can be brought into local hawker centers or schools will encourage individuals to be more conscious when discarding food and engage in more recycling behaviours. Furthermore, more food waste recycling bins can be placed at food centers to prompt people to be more effortful in recycling. When bins are more salient and convenient, individuals would be more involved in recycling their food waste.

 

 

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