Let’s take a look at the 7 common types of recycling in HDB estates:

1) National Recycling Programme (NRP)

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has implemented the National Recycling Programme (NRP) since 2001,
where recycling bags or bins are given to residents living in HDB housing estates and landed properties. These
recycling bags and bins are provided by the licensed recycling contractors and the recyclables are collected once
every two weeks at the doorstep.
2) Centralised Recycling Depositories (CRDs)
To complement the NRP, NEA has requested the recycling contractors to place centralised recycling depositories
(CRDs) at all HDB estates, since August 2007. There will be a CRD for every 5 blocks of flats and the locations of the
CRDs can be found at OneMap under the Environment – Recycling Bins theme.
3) Recycling Exchange
The recycling contractors usually organise a recycling exchange once a month by working with the Residents’
Committee (RC) to set up recycling stations for residents to exchange their recyclables for cash or food items. For
example, Colex has the Cash for Trash Programme in the Jurong sector, and Veolia has the Recycling Exchange
Initiative (REIT) in the Pasir Ris-Tampines, Bedok, and Tanglin-Bukit Merah sectors.
4) Tzu Chi Recycling Day
During the Tzu Chi Recycling Day, which falls on every second Sunday of the month from 8.30am to 11.30am, the
Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation volunteers will set up recycling points at housing estates in 14
locations across the island. The volunteers encourage residents to bring their recyclable items from their houses and
to help in the sorting of the items.
5) School Recycling Collection
There are frequent school recycling collection initiated by students to collect newspapers and old clothing for
fundraising or for charity. The students doing the recycling collection for an area usually have to work with the
licensed recycling contractor who are in-charge of the NRP for that area, and sell the recyclables to them.
6) Karang Guni Recycling Collection
The traditional unlicensed karang guni man or rag-and-bone man goes from door-to-door to collect items from
residents, such as newspapers, televisions, radios, and computers. The karang guni man usually pays residents for
the items. The items are sold to a waste recycling company or to a secondhand dealer.
7) Informal Recycling Collection
The informal recycling collection is usually done by the unlicensed poor elderly, who go through the rubbish bins in
the neighbourhood and pick up recyclables such as newspapers, carton boxes and drink cans, from the bins. They
usually sell the recyclables to a waste recycling company or to a secondhand dealer.

The top 5 waste types make up 74% of the total waste generated in Singapore, which are either disposed of at the
waste-to-energy plants and landfill, or recycled locally and exported:
1. Paper/Cardboard (20%)
2. Construction Debris (19%)
3. Ferrous Metal (14%)
4. Plastics (11%)
5. Food Waste (10%)