You can now buy a recycling bin handbag from Lazada. It costs $8.46 before shipping and allows you to separate your trash in style while you are on the go.
In many cities and countries, trash has to be separated to increase recycling efficiency, an initiative that is enforced by state laws. For example, in New York City, trash that has not been separated will not be collected from your doorstep, leaving your garbage to stink your vicinity. You might even get a fine if your trash bag remains for more than a day.
This year, Shanghai has made trash separation mandatory from 1 July. Residents have to separate their trash into 4 categories: wet, dry, hazardous or recyclable. In Japan, trash has to be separated into combustible, non-combustible, recyclable and oversized categories. The trash is disposed of only on certain days of the month.
In Singapore, we have the luxury of not having to separate our trash. Recycling is optional and simply brought to the big blue bins in HDB estates. Perhaps that might explain our extremely low recycling rate. In 2018, our plastic recycling rate stood at a measly 4%.
A common problem our ‘universal’ blue recycling bins face is the recyclables being contaminated by people leaving their food waste in them.
You can check out the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) guide on what can or cannot be recycled to better inform yourself.
Maybe we need a localised version that is in the form of our giant blue bins. Local designers, take notes!
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