Have you ever wondered what happens to your trash after you throw it away? Or where all the garbage trucks go once they have collected the waste from the bins? These questions and more were answered when we went on a recent TuasOne Waste to Energy Plant tour.
Located at the western edge of Singapore, the TuasOne Waste to Energy Plant is usually off limits to visitors. However, for the upcoming Go Green SG campaign organised by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment in July 2023, the plant will be opening up for special public tours.
We had the opportunity to get a sneak preview of the tour (including special permission to take photos at the plant) and learnt interesting facts about waste management in Singapore.
How Waste Management is Done in Singapore
Singapore generates around 20,000 tons of waste per day.
This comes from the commercial, industrial and domestic sectors. It includes the discarded cardboard packaging from the purchase we just made, food scraps thrown away after a meal and a whole lot more.
Most don’t give it a second thought about rubbish after it has gone into the bin. However, managing this waste is an essential part of keeping the city functioning.
Of the waste generated, part of it gets recycled while another portion gets sent for incineration at one of Singapore’s Waste to Energy Plants.
At the Waste to Energy Plants, trash gets incinerated and reduced to ash before it is shipped off to Semakau Landfill, Singapore’s only landfill.
With the scarcity of land space in Singapore, reducing rubbish to ash helps to maximise the landfill’s utilisation.
Even then, the Semakau Landfill is estimated to only last till 2035.
A preferred way to manage the waste generated is to segregate it at source into recyclables and non-recyclables. This will allow more of the trash to be recycled and less needs to be incinerated.
When waste does get incinerated, the heat created by the furnace is used to heat up boilers. The steam from the boilers are used to turn turbines and generate electricity.
This electricity is then returned to the power grid, completing the process of turning waste to energy.
TuasOne Waste To Energy Plant Tour
The TuasOne Waste To Energy Plant is the sixth Waste to Energy plant built in Singapore and commenced operations in December 2021. It is operated by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group.
The plant can manage up to 3,600 tons of garbage per day.
Around 500 to 600 garbage trucks pay a visit to the TuasOne Waste To Energy Plant to drop off garbage each day.
When trucks enter the plant fully loaded, they first get weighed. They then drive to a reception hall where the garbage is dropped off into a waste pit.
The trucks are then weighed again on the way out to determine how much waste they have delivered.
Managing the waste pit is a bit like playing a giant claw machine game.
The operator sits high above the waste pit and uses a crane to grab the waste. The waste is then dropped by the clawful into the stoker where it is incinerated.
The burning process takes two hours. High pressure steam is then sent to the steam turbine which is connected to the generator to produce power. Flue gas, which is a by-product of burning, is treated with lime and a fabric filter before it is released into the atmosphere.
The TuasOne Waste To Energy Plant can generate 120 megawatts of electricity per day. That is sufficient to meet the needs of 240,000 households.
So, the next time you turn on the light at home, it could actually be powered by the trash you threw away yesterday.
Trash Thoughts
A visit to the TuasOne Waste To Energy Plant highlights the importance of waste management in Singapore.
While it is an “invisible” process to the majority of us, it is an essential part of what keeps the city moving.
Being able to see (and smell) what goes on inside the plant also helps to underscore how all of us can play a part in making Singapore a more sustainable and green city.
While waste-to-energy plants help to convert trash into re-usable electricity, we can also play a role in reducing the amount of trash we generate.
This can be done through simple everyday actions like cutting back on using disposable utensils or taking time to sort out and clean recyclables so that less trash needs to be sent to the incinerator.
The TuasOne Waste To Energy Plant tour is just one of the many activities being organised by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment and its partners as part of Go Green SG in July 2023.
Find out more about other activities taking place during Go Green SG and how you can help make Singapore a more environmentally-sustainable place to live.
