ENVIRONMENTAL AND SAFETY COMMITTEE
Country Report of Singapore
Members should endeavour to answer the questions as fully as possible, where applicable, as a summary report will be prepared by SEAISI.
Where possible/applicable, for each of the issues below, members should also include the opinion or stated position of the industry, government and/or non-government organisations as this can give a better insight into current and potential developments.
1.
External Influences a.
Overview.
Give an overview of those factors which may, ultimately, have an impact on the national industry and potentially affect environmental decision making or performance (e.g. current government philosophy, elections, economic situation, trade issues etc.).
Climate Change
Global climate is changing, if carbon emissions are continuously increase, extreme weather events are likely to become more frequent. For Singapore, it points to more frequent floods affecting water management, and may even lead to volatile food prices and disruptions to business chains. These all affect business activities and food imports in Singapore.
Since the 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, all countries agree to start negotiations on a new climate framework, including Singapore. Thus the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change (IMCCC) is erected to study how Singapore can stabilize our long term emissions.
One of the strongest mitigation strategies employed is to primarily reduce carbon emissions; Singapore has pledged to reduce 16% below 2020 business-as-usual
(BAU) levels if there is a legally binding document wherein all countries implement it in good faith. Ahead of this, Singapore has already embarked on policies and measures to reduce our emissions by 7-11% below 2020 BAU levels. The crux will be to focus on improving energy efficiency across households and businesses, to all be more energy conscious.
The Singapore Government will help raise awareness and build capabilities to improve our energy efficiency through addressing sector-specific barriers using incentives or regulatory measures where appropriate.
Some measures include:
Power generation – switch fuel mix from fuel oil to natural gas.

Waste/Water – incinerate sludge rather than dispose in landfills
Buildings – require Green Mark Certification for all new buildings
Industry – Extend the Grant for Efficient Technologies (GREET) scheme; develop and support energy efficiency financing pilot schemes; encourage new co-generation plants in energy-intensive sectors.
Summary: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1207533/1/.html
Document: http://app.nccs.gov.sg/data/resources/docs/Documents/NCCS-2012.pdf
b. Government Organisations.
- Legislation.
Indicate the overall trends concerning environmental legislation, both generally and with specific reference to the steel and related industries, and any factors which may impact on this. Provide specific details of the type of environmental legislation which is currently being discussed/proposed and any new pieces of environmental legislation which have been issued over the last year and which may impact on the steel and related industries.
Energy Conservation Act (ECA)
The Act aims to help Singapore achieve a 35% improvement in energy intensity by 2030 from 2005 levels, improve energy efficiency of companies to make them more competitive in the global economy. And for companies investing in energy efficiency, that the ECA provides support by complementing current schemes and capability building programmes.
The Act requires all large energy users in the industry and transport sectors that consume more than 15 giga-watt hours of energy equivalent each year have to appoint an energy manager.
Companies would also have to monitor and report energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and submit energy efficiency improvement plans.
MEWR will oversee industry and household-related measures while MOT will oversee measures for transport sector.
News: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1194072/1/.html
Waste Management
The NEA is responsible for planning, development and management of solid waste disposal facilities and operations in Singapore. This includes licensing and regulation of solid waste collection and enforcement of illegal dumping.
General Waste Collectors (GWC) provide services to commercial and industry premises licensed by NEA. There are three classes of GWC (A, B & C) to handle specific types of wastes:
Class A: Inorganic waste (construction debris, excavated earth, tree trunks, discarded furniture, appliances, wooden crates, pallets and other bulky items) and recyclables from residential property and other premises covered in section
10(1)(c) of the Environmental Public Health Act
Class B: Organic waste (food and other putrefiable waste from domestic, trade and industrial premises, markets and food centres)
Class C: Sludge and grease (sludge from water treatment plants, grease interceptors, water-seal latrines, sewage treatment plants, septic tanks and waste from sanitary conveniences in ships and aircrafts)
Info: http://app2.nea.gov.sg/topics_waste.aspx#Businesses

Hazardous Substance Control
NEA controls environmentally hazardous chemicals under The Environmental
Protection and Management Act (EPMA), The Environmental Protection and
Management (Hazardous Substances) Regulations and the Environmental
Protection and Management (Ozone Depleting Substances) Regulations.
Developers of industries involving the use or storage of large quantities of hazardous substances may be required to conduct a Quantitative Risk Assessment
(QRA). The QRA is required to establish health and safety zones to prevent knock-on effects of neighbouring hazardous installations and to protect the public from fire, explosion, toxic fumes dispersal hazards, detrimental effects on health, and chemical contamination.
Info: http://app2.nea.gov.sg/haz_sub.aspx
Noise Pollution
NEA regulates the levels of permissible noise from construction sites and industrial operations. NEA also sets noise emission standards for vehicles.
BOUNDARY NOISE LIMITS FOR FACTORY PREMISES
The maximum permitted boundary noise levels are as follows:
Types of affected premises
Maximum permitted noise levels (reckoned as the equivalent noise level over the specified period) in decibels (dBA)
Day (7am-
7pm)
Evening (7pm-11pm) Night (11pm-7am)
Noise Sensitive
Premises
60 55 50
Residential Premises
Commercial Premises
65
70
60
65
55
60
Types of affected premises
Maximum permitted noise levels (reckoned as the equivalent noise level over 5 minutes) in decibels (dBA)
Day (7am-
7pm)
Evening (7pm-11pm) Night (11pm-7am)
Noise Sensitive
Premises
Residential Premises
Commercial Premises
65
70
75
60
65
70
55
60
65
Factory Premises 75 70 65
- Guidelines/codes of practice.
Provide details of any environmental guidelines or codes of practice which may impact on the steel and related industries.
Legionella Bacteria
Specific instructions on cooling tower’s design and construction, location, source of water, discharge of water, commissioning and operations.

Specific instructions on maintenance of cooling system, cleaning and disinfection, water treatment, biocide, record keeping, action plan for the event of an outbreak, water sampling and bacteriological monitoring, and enforcement action for legionella and standard plate count contamination.
Also, specific instructions on workers’ training, and personal protection.
Document: http://www.nea.gov.sg/cms/qed/cop_legionella.pdf
Pollution Control
The code of practice is to inform industrialists, architects, professional engineers and consultants on pollution control requirements for the submission of development proposals and building plans. It is for architects, professional engineers, developers and members of the public.
Some of these include: Air pollution control, noise pollution control, hazardous substance control, toxic industrial wastes control, and land pollution control.
Download-Document: http://cms.nea.gov.sg/TemSub.aspx?pagesid=20080630407061690386&pagemode=live&#4
- Evaluation, monitoring and assessment.
Provide details of any programmes, sponsored through government, the national and/or local regulators, to evaluate and monitor emissions , environmental burdens or impact of pollutants on health or the ecosystem.
Air Quality Monitoring
The NEA monitors air quality 24 hours through monitoring stations island-wide to measure the levels of pollutants in ambient air. The stations send the information gathered to a central control station where it is used to calculate the
PSI.
The daily PSI level is posted on the NEA website to provide the public a timely and accurate information.
Info: http://app.mewr.gov.sg/web/Contents/Contents.aspx?ContId=1696
Pollution Control – Prevention, Enforcement, Monitoring
The National Environment Agency (NEA) is responsible for air and water pollution control, as well as hazardous substances and toxic industrial wastes control.
NEA monitors the ambient air quality and the quality of water bodies in
Singapore. It is also responsible for the formulation and implementation of joint programmes on transboundary pollution with neighbouring countries. Through its
Central Building Plan Unit (CBPU) NEA ensures that environmental factors are incorporated into land use planning, development and building control of new developments.
Three key strategies comprise NEA’s approach to managing the environment.
These are:
Prevention – Appropriate land use planning and the provision of environmental infrastructure; establishment of preventive controls
Enforcement – Stringent enforcement of the controls that have been put in place
Monitoring – Regular assessment of the environment to ensure that the existing pollution control measures are adequate
Info: http://app2.nea.gov.sg/topics_wasteminimisation.aspx
- Reduction measures and programmes.

Provide details of any programmes, sponsored through government, the national and/or local regulators, to reduce emissions from industrial processes, reduce environmental burdens or the impact of emissions on health or the ecosystem.
Waste Minimization and Recycling
Waste minimisation and recycling are key components of Singapore’s integrated solid waste management system. In land-scarce Singapore, where waste-toenergy (WTE) plants offer the best technical solution by reducing waste volume efficiently to conserve landfill space, the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) play a crucial complementary role by preventing waste at source and cutting waste sent to the disposal sites, contributing towards resource recovery.
A disposal fee is charged for waste disposed of at the WTE plants or landfill. This is based on the principle of full cost recovery and encourages waste minimisation and recycling. To maximise volume reduction, all incinerable waste that cannot be recycled is sent to the WTE plants, where heat is recovered to generate electricity and ferrous metals further recovered for recycling.
Info: http://app2.nea.gov.sg/topics_wasteminimisation.aspx
Noise Pollution c. Public, Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), Pressure Groups.
- Overall attitude/position.
Indicate the general status of the public’s, NGOs and pressure groups’ attitude towards industry, current environmental concerns and the regulators and indicate how these groups interact with industry, government and regulators (e.g. direct action, stakeholder forums, etc.). Particularly, mention any issues that have arisen between steelworks and local communities.
Singapore Environment Council
Established in 1995, the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) is an independently managed, non-profit, non-government organisation, and institution of public character that nurtures, facilitates and co-ordinates environmental causes in Singapore. The Council is also an approved charity that can offer tax exemption to donors.
SEC reaches out to the public through its educational, community and industrial arms. Each arm provides a range of holistic programmes that raises awareness of the natural environment and promotes a greater sense of environmental responsibility.
To solve the environmental crisis effectively, the corporate sector plays an important role. The role of SEC’s Industry Arm is to promote corporate environmental responsibility and action. In particular, it encourages the corporate counterparts to adopt a green outlook and innovative management. Since its establishment, SEC has forged many strong and successful partnerships with the corporate sector. Through this approach, SEC aims to take Singapore a step closer to becoming a sustainable model city.
The aims of the Industry Arm are:
To increase corporate environmental awareness by promoting the exchange of information and experiences among companies;

To encourage pollution prevention, resource productivity, waste minimisation and other environmental practices within business and industry;
To foster dialogue and co-operation between the private sector, government and community a large, for the betterment of the environment.
Info: http://www.sec.org.sg/about/overview
- Specific incidents.
Detail any specific environmental incidents that have occurred both within or external to the steel and related industries that have drawn the attention of the above groups and/or the media.
- Others.
Provide any additional information that may be of interest. d. Surveys Studies and Forecasts.
- Emissions, burdens and impacts.
Provide details of any surveys, studies or forecasts carried out by government organisations, regulators, academia, pressure groups or other parties concerning emission trends, environmental burdens or impacts on health or the ecosystem.
Key Environment Statistics 2012
Statistics on air quality, solid waste management, environmental health, water resource management, climate change & energy efficiency, regional and international collaboration
Document: http://app.mewr.gov.sg/data/ImgCont/52/KES2012.pdf
- Others.
Provide details of any other activities that may be relevant to the steel and related industries.
2. In the Steelworks. a. Overview.
Give an overview of any factors, decisions or discussions within the steel companies which have had or may have an impact on operations or may affect environmental decision making or performance (e.g. profitability, technology/product strategy, restructuring, rationalisation, expansion etc.).
Given that the government has announced that the use of foreign labour will be limited and hence more expensive in workers levies in future, the steel companies have begun preparing for this eventuality with more mechanization and automation of the processes both hardware and software in the downstream operations.
This will help to increase productivity in the steelworks with less reliance on foreign labours and at the same time ensuring survival and profitability in the forseeable future.

b. Process stages.
Provide details of all major developments including new plant, pollution control measures/plant, measurement programmes, reduction programmes, problems, incidents, future strategies etc. by process area.
The company will be putting up an organic Rankin cycle in the meltshop to capture some of the waste heat and turn it into electrical energy for internal use.
New and more automated machines are installed in the downstream areas of Cut and
Bend and Mesh to reduce the reliance on foreign manpower and to increase productivity. c. General issues.
Provide details of all major developments which relate to the environmental performance of the whole plant, including:
energy consumption/CO
2 emissions.
water usage.
total emissions trends.
environmental management systems (EMS).
community issues.
contaminated land.
Others
The company has trained and appointed energy managers base on the new Energy
Conservation Act to mange energy issues in the plant.
We are also certified in July 2012 to the new ISO50001 standard to manage our energy programme on a structured manner. This is the first company in Singapore of such scale to be ceritified to this energy standard.
This will help to bring down our CO2 emission in the steelwork further.
3. Special Topics. a. R+D activities.
Provide details of any active or proposed research activities relating to the environmental performance of plant. Where appropriate, indicate the drivers for carrying out the research. b. Environmental strategy.
Provide details of the overall company environmental strategy and potential developments resulting from current and expected future environmental concerns.
The company is certified to ISO14001 standard which is the management system used to improve and sustain the standard in environmental management. This is subject to third party audit on a yearly basis. c. Others.
Provide details of any other factors considered relevant.