Disposal Guidelines in Singapore
Don’t know what to do with your bulky junks and planning to dump it anywhere convenient – HDB rubbish dump area, common corridor area, remote ground in Kranji, etc? Doesn’t this sound familiar with some of us? We are all guilty of such offence. In case we are unaware, illegal dumping is a series offence in Singapore. It comes with heavy fines and in serious cases can even end up in the jail.
This post offers you some insights on what are the fines associated with illegal dumping and how can we avoid these fines.
Prevent Illegal Dumping in Singapore
In the Public Environmental Health Act (Section 20(I)), illegal waste dumping is a serious offence. Therefore, offenders who are caught doing so will be liable to these following fines:
- First Conviction: $50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both. Vehicles can be confiscated.
- Second and subsequent conviction: $100,000 AND a MANDAORY imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months. Vehicles can be confiscated.
You may refer to this link to the official site under by National Environmental Agency (NEA) for a full official document concerning Waste Collections: https://www.nea.gov.sg/docs/default-source/resource/cop-gwc-version-date-30-nov-2016.pdf
Real Life Cases of Illegal Dumping Ending in HEFTY FINES
Below are a couple of classic incidences where serious fines were imposed on offenders who flout the law with illegal dumping:
Case 1:
On Aug 29, Wed of this year, an elderly Singaporean man was fined $10,000 on for illegally dumping waste at a bin centre. The 62 old self employed was caught by National Environmental Agency (NEA) for charging business operating at Tampines Industrial Park for collecting their waste between Jun and Oct last year and then dumping the waste at a bin centre in Bedok Reservior Road. This was to avoid paying for waste disposal fee at authorized site. This man was fined $10,000 for the offence.
Refer to the official news at https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/man-fined-10000-for-illegally-dumping-waste-at-bedok-reservoir-road-bin-centre
Case 2:
Another case of illegal dumping on Oct 28, 2014: A lorry driver was fined $25,000 for illegally dumping some 10 tonnes of excavated earth at Old Upper Thomson Road. The driver did not observe the instructions provided by his employer to dump the waste at Changi Staging ground but instead went to do it at a public place along Old Upper Thomson Road. Refer to the official news at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/lorry-driver-fined-s25000-illegal-dumping-excavated-earth.
How Can We Avoid Fines
Most people would think it is perfectly fine to throw and dump their bulky junks or waste in any public area. The other reason being, they do not want to incur a cost to get professional service providers to help them do proper disposal. The rationale is why should they pay someone to dispose something which is worthless and does not have monetary value? There are reasons for the Government to designate proper dumping sites for such purpose. One key factor is to prevent further damage to the environment as some of the wastes are toxic. Leaving them in public is hazardous to the community. The other reason is to bringing bulky waste and junks to the approved dumping ground will allow the proper treatment and destruction of the waste.
Paying money to the professional service provider to get rid of your unwanted bulky junks is NOTHING as compared to paying a hefty fine for trying to beat the law. To help you with the proper disposal of the waste material, the service provider themselves do incur costs as well. This includes manpower costs, transport cost and disposal charges imposed by the approved dumping sites.
It is therefore only right for us to pay for the disposal charges!