CapitaLand steps up e-waste recycling efforts with expanded collection points across malls and offices in Singapore
Largest network of commercial properties to offer e-waste recycling in support of Zero Waste Nation goal under Sustainable Singapore Blueprint 2015
Singapore, 23 August 2016 – CapitaLand is rolling out e-waste recycling bins across 10 of its malls in Singapore to encourage shoppers and tenants to adopt electronic waste (e-waste) recycling. CapitaLand’s move to ramp up its e-waste recycling efforts is a natural progression of its waste recycling journey – which started in 2008 with recycling bins for paper, metal and plastic in all its Singapore properties – making it the largest mall network with such an initiative in Singapore. This builds on the success of CapitaLand’s first e-waste recycling programme at Funan DigitaLife Mall, which was selected for the Group’s pilot ewaste recycling programme given its central location and its popularity as a hub for digital and electronic products. Started in May 2014, Funan’s e-waste recycling programme had collected over 32,000 kg of e-waste by the end of June 2016.
Going beyond its malls, CapitaLand is also engaging its Singapore office tenants with an ewaste collection drive from this month to December 2016 in eight of its office properties – Capital Tower, CapitaGreen, Six Battery Road, One George Street, Raffles City Tower, Twenty Anson, HSBC Building and Wilkie Edge. This will allow its office tenants’ employees to conveniently and safely dispose of both their personal e-waste, which could include music players and personal communication devices, as well as corporate e-waste, such as computers, monitors and servers. This will be done in partnership with R2-certified1 Cimelia Resource Recovery, which was also the partner for Funan’s e-waste recycling programme.
Mr Tan Seng Chai, Group Chief Corporate Officer of CapitaLand Limited and Chairman of the CapitaLand Sustainability Steering Committee, said: “The strong response to CapitaLand’s pilot e-waste recycling programme at Funan DigitaLife Mall convinced us of the public demand for this worthy green practice, so we wanted to make e-waste recycling more accessible to the public. Naturally, we looked to our network of malls in Singapore, given their easy accessibility and geographic spread across the island. As focal points for the communities in which they are located, our CapitaLand malls are well placed for extending the reach of our e-waste recycling programme. We are also happy to extend this service to our office properties, so that our office tenants and business associates can also join us on this journey to minimise the environmental impact of e-waste.”
Mr Ong Soo San, Director of the Waste and Resource Management Department at Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA), said: “With the proliferation of electrical and electronic devices and new models being launched regularly, we can expect e-waste quantities to increase over time. To reduce waste and conserve resources, NEA encourages the reuse of serviceable items such as by selling them to secondhand traders or giving them away to charity. For items that cannot be reused, consumers are encouraged to deposit them into recycling bins such as those provided by CapitaLand. It is heartening to see companies such as CapitaLand take the initiative to implement programmes to make it more convenient to recycle e-waste, and we urge more businesses to follow their lead.”
CapitaLand is partnering StarHub for its mall e-waste recycling initiative, leveraging the infocommunications company’s REcycling Nation’s Electronic Waste (RENEW) programme launched in September 2014. This is in line with CapitaLand’s strategy of forging meaningful collaborations with business and community partners to amplify the impact of its sustainability and community programmes. The partnership makes CapitaLand the largest network of properties in which StarHub’s RENEW bins have been deployed. Please refer to the Annex for the list of CapitaLand malls where the RENEW bins are being deployed.
Mr Tan added: “We are now expanding our waste recycling efforts to include e-waste because of the environmental and health concerns posed by improperly handled e-waste. Most e-waste contains small amounts of heavy metals and toxic substances that require specialised equipment and processes to handle. CapitaLand works with established partners for our e-waste recycling programme to ensure that all collected items are properly dismantled and processed with recyclable materials extracted for future use, and unrecyclable materials disposed of in a controlled environment to prevent leaching and pollution. Our efforts have also gone beyond Singapore, with our overseas serviced residences offering similar e-waste recycling programmes in Australia and Europe. E-waste collected at these properties is sent to appointed vendors or local collection points for proper processing.”
As a company that has received ISO14001 certification since 2007 for its environmental management system, CapitaLand has also put in place a comprehensive e-waste management system for CapitaHub, its corporate headquarters in Singapore, to ensure that obsolete electronics, including laptops, monitors, multi-functional devices (printers, fax machines) and shredders are properly recycled through an appointed IT recycling company or by returning the items to the manufacturer. Where possible, pantry appliances are also returned to the distributors, who can recycle salvageable parts and ensure the proper disposal of the remaining parts. Similarly, used printer ink cartridges are collected and returned to the vendor periodically. Equipment that cannot be returned to the distributor is instead collected by a contractor, who provides CapitaLand with records that the equipment has been disposed of properly after they have salvaged whatever they could.
Since 2008, CapitaLand has made available recycling bins for paper, metal and plastic in all its Singapore properties to encourage its shoppers, serviced residence and office tenants and the general public to pick up the green habit of recycling. In 2015, CapitaLand collected over 3.8 million kg of recyclable waste across its properties in Singapore and overseas.
CapitaLand is one of the first companies in Singapore to voluntarily publish sustainability reports annually since 2009. The CapitaLand Global Sustainability Report 2015, which is based on the latest Global Reporting Initiative ‘Global 4’ Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, is available at http://www.capitaland.com/sustainability/global-sustainability-report. CapitaLand is listed in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, The Sustainability Yearbook, Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and Asia Pacific Index, Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (Regional Sector Leader for Asia, Diversified), FTSE4Good Index Series, MSCI Global Sustainability Indexes, STOXX® Global ESG Leaders Indices, Channel NewsAsia Sustainability Ranking and SGX Sustainability Leaders Index.
ANNEX
CapitaLand malls in Singapore where RENEW bins are being deployed
1 | Bugis+ |
2 | Bedok Mall |
3 | IMM Building |
4 | JCube |
5 | Junction 8 |
6 | Lot One Shoppers’ Mall |
7 | Sembawang Shopping Centre |
8 | Plaza Singapura |
9 | Raffles City Singapore |
10 | Tampines Mall |