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  Straits Times 16 Oct 07
Local firm opens Singapore's first asphalt recycling plant
By Jessica Cheam

THE recycling business is gathering pace, with the opening of Singapore's first asphalt recycling plant yesterday, which uses pieces of torn-up road surface to make new asphalt.

Local pipe contractor Ley Choon Constructions and Engineering's new facility at Kranji was launched by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, yesterday.

The $6 million plant employs Italian technology which allows it to use asphalt waste to make new asphalt - with waste comprising up to 30 per cent of the raw materials.

The plant, which has cleaner emissions as it runs on natural gas instead of crude oil, can produce 175 tonnes of asphalt an hour, said Ley Choon's marketing director Peter Wang.

Asphalt is often used for road surfaces and is required when contractors carry out works such as underground pipe laying, cable laying or general road repairs.

Asphalt waste comes from removing road surfaces during road resurfacing or reconstruction. This is either put in a landfill or re-used as temporary access roads for construction sites.

The recycling will cut the amount of waste put in the Semakau Landfill, said Dr Khor.

'Increasingly, there's a lot more awareness about the economic viability of going into the green business,' said Dr Khor, who commended Ley Choon's recycling efforts.

The National Environmental Agency (NEA) also helped to fund $250,000 of the plant's cost via its Innovation for Environmental Sustainability Fund, said Mr Wang. Since the launch of the fund in 2001, NEA has funded 43 projects using $13.35 million.

NEA said there are currently about 450 companies in the waste management and recycling industry in Singapore, which range from small operators to multi-national companies.
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