Global Plastic Policy Reviews

This Act provides for the establishment of the National Environment Agency (NEA), its tasks, functions and responsibilities in preventing, abating and controlling air, water, land and food pollution. Provisions are made for the prevention and control of pollution of the air, water and land both by domestic and industrial pollutants. It also aims to promote energy efficiency, the use of clean energy, the use of clean technologies, the use of efficient pollution control technologies and waste recycling. The primary driver for this policy was environmental, the NEA was created to focus on air pollution and other related issues, and avoid accidents such as the notorious haze of September 1997, which has had and still has significant economic and health-related costs (CPI, 2016). The NEA is a statutory board under the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) of the Government of Singapore, and the Minister can give any directions consistent with the provisions of this Act, as to the performance of the functions and the exercise of its powers by the Agency.

There was strong evidence available to complete the evaluation framework at the time of the assessment. This policy has had some positive effect on reducing plastic pollution and has been linked to lower waste generation and higher recycling rates (National Environment Agency, 2022). Despite the effective waste management systems, the multiple public awareness campaigns, the strict law enforcement, the long term funding for recycling facilities, and the commitment of the government, daily cases of littering are still reported and more than 40% of plastic waste are contaminated and as such unable to be recycled (Minh, 2021; Boon, 2019). Public support and involvement are critical for the policy to work more efficiently and have a larger impact.

(Reviewed in November 2022)