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  The Straits Times 30 Nov 05
Bag cuts volume of food waste? It's not corny idea
by Lee Hui Chieh

MEWR news release 29 Nov 05
Opening address by Dr Yaacob Ibrahim

Channel NewsAsia 29 Nov 05
Singapore firm produces biodegradable, compostable bags
 By Hasnita A Majid

SINGAPORE : The bags that you use to carry your groceries home from the supermarket can soon be used to fertilise your plants.

That's because Singapore has managed to create biodegradable bags that can also be broken down into compost. The eco-friendly bags - made of corn - are being showcased at an environment technology exhibition.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Dr Yaacob Ibrahim says the bags could soon be used at food establishments, waste companies and packaging distributors.

The three-day exhibition aims to create a one-stop sourcing ground for the latest solutions in process engineering, instrumentation and controls, analytical technologies as well as environmental, water and waste management technologies.

More than 1,000 exhibiting companies and industry players are taking part in the exhibition.

The Straits Times, 30 Nov 05
Bag cuts volume of food waste? It's not corny idea
by Lee Hui Chieh

A BAG that looks and feels like plastic but is made from corn could help businesses like hotels and restaurants halve their volume of food waste and cut their disposal bills by a third.

The Biobag is not only completely biodegradable, but it also has tiny pores from which heat and moisture can escape. This allows water produced by decomposing organic waste, such as leftover food, to evaporate, reducing the volume of waste by up to 50 per cent after a week.

A smaller volume of waste costs less to incinerate, and can translate into as much as 30 to 40 per cent of savings on disposal costs for businesses, estimated Mr Mutaza Sarbini, managing director of Biobag Singapore.

The Biobag was singled out for mention as a more environmentally friendly option than regular bags by Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, when he opened a four-day exhibition on the latest environmental technologies at Suntec City yesterday.

The material used to make the bags was developed in Italy. Kernels of corn are ground and mixed with a biodegradable polymer and vegetable oil to create the patented material, which is made into bags by a Norwegian company. Mr Mutaza, 44, is marketing the bags in South-east Asia.

The catch is its cost: Each bag, which has a shelf life of about two years, costs between 15 cents and $1.50, depending on its size and thickness. This is about three times as much as the cost of a normal polythene bag, and is one of the biggest hurdles to selling it in Singapore, said Mr Mutaza.

'Here, businesses look at the cost factor more than anything else. But hopefully, after two or three years, people will become more environmentally conscious.'

He has not sold any here, but 76,000 bags have been sold to the provincial government of Bekasi, Indonesia, in a two-month pilot project. The government gave the bags to its citizens to use for food waste, hoping it would reduce the volume of garbage into overflowing landfills.

Its potential for reducing waste would be useful for land-scarce Singapore, said Mr Mutaza. The compost left behind can also be turned into natural fertilisers. Last year, about 1,400 tonnes of food waste - enough to fill more than 200 garbage trucks - were produced in Singapore daily.

MEWR NEWS RELEASE NO: 69/2005 DATE OF ISSUE: 29/11/2005
Opening address by Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, at the Opening Ceremony of EnviromexAsia 2005 / WatermexAsia 2005 and CIA 2005 Exhibition, on Tuesday, 29 November 2005, at Suntec City Convention Centre, Level 3 Concourse at 10.30am

full speech

Extracts

Waste Reduction Technologies

4 In terms of technologies available to help reduce waste generation, a local company, Ecotech Supplies and Consulting Services Pte Ltd, who is one of the exhibitors here, produces biodegradable bags that are made from corn. I understand that these BioBags are not only 100% biodegradable but are also 100% compostable. Thus, as compared to other bags especially polythene ones which are non-degradable, BioBags is set to be an environmentally-friendlier choice for food establishments, waste companies and packaging distributors, especially in many countries in the region, where landfill is still the primary method of waste disposal.

Renewable Energy

5 Singapore is also becoming a regional hub for research on solar energy and other technologies for developing alternative energy sources. For instance, the National Environment Agency, together with other partners like the Housing and Development Board, is hosting a project where fuel cell stacks are used to provide power to a residential car park in the eastern part of Singapore (Pasir Ris). This is the first stationary power fuel cell project in Singapore. It will serve to demonstrate the technical viability of such a system in real life applications, as well as to build up the local capabilities in fuel cell technology.

Water Technologies and R&D

6 Singapore has also been investing in water technologies and R&D to ensure water sustainability, and at the same time lower costs and improve productivity and efficiency of supplying water. PUB, the national water agency, has already invested $37 million in research and development. This has not only given us new sources of water, such as NEWater and desalinated water, it has also helped to nurture and develop a thriving local water industry. Local companies such as GrahamTek, Cleanseas, Aromatrix and Keppel Engineering are now partnering the PUB in R&D projects, conducting pilot plant trials and test-bedding new technologies.
links
More about biobag on the biobag website
Related articles on Singapore: plastic bags efforts to reduce use of plastic bags, issues, discussions
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