Singapore – The National Environment Agency in Singapore has awarded three grants for projects looking at plastic waste recycling. They were made under the request for proposals on “Beyond incineration: plastic waste recycling and food packaging solutions”. This is the first funding call under its Closing the Resource Loop funding initiative.
The agency is looking to find ways to divert plastic waste from incineration, either by improving the recyclability of contaminated and hard-to-recycle plastics, or by creating sustainable packaging options that are easier to recycle and use recycled plastic materials.
The three successful proposals were selected from 17 applications from companies and academic institutes. They will receive more than $6m between them.
Two of the funded projects came from the Nanyang Technological University, and will focus on hard-to-recycle plastic waste, including polyurethane. The third, from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, will develop recyclable mono-material packaging.
A second call for proposals, looking at food waste, is now open.
“The CTRL Funding Initiative supports R&D on sustainable resource recovery solutions for key waste streams such as e-waste, plastics and food, and finding useful and safe applications for treated waste residues,” the agency said. “Continued investment into R&D will allow us to chart new frontiers in our journey towards a sustainable, resource-efficient, and climate-resilient Singapore.”
