Government to assess sustainability criteria of Mice tenders from FY2025

THE government will be assessing the sustainability credentials of companies bidding for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (Mice) tenders, as well as other events organised by the public sector from financial year 2025. 

This move comes a year after Singapore first announced that it was going to include criteria for environmental sustainability when evaluating government tenders, beginning with large projects in construction as well as information and communications technology (ICT) in FY2024. 

Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor said on Monday (Mar 4) that the government will be consulting the Mice industry before finalising details. 

The expansion of the government’s green procurement policy to the Mice industry was one of several initiatives announced during the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment’s Committee of Supply debate in Parliament. The move is aimed at reducing the environmental impact of companies, as well as improving their sustainability capabilities. 

Since the announcement last year, the government has piloted the new requirements by setting aside 5 per cent of evaluation points for environmental sustainability for five construction projects and one ICT bulk tender, said Khor.

Construction companies were assessed based on whether they had made climate-related disclosures, adopted decarbonisation technologies, used low-carbon construction materials, and achieved relevant sustainability certifications.

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Companies bidding for ICT tenders were evaluated based on their sustainable packaging options and sustainability-related certifications. Khor added that the government plans to include criteria for data centre operators and cloud service providers, such as whether these companies have embarked on sustainability reporting, and the power-usage effectiveness of their data centres.

Other initiatives include:

• Adding new data to government’s sustainability report

The government’s second sustainability report, which will be released later this year, will include data on waste and waste-reduction efforts, said Khor. 

In response to questions from Members of Parliament on whether the government would include data on Scope 3 emissions – which refer to emissions arising indirectly from the government’s supply chain – Khor said that the government is still studying the appropriate approach. 

This is because there are wide-ranging sources of Scope 3 emissions from the government’s extensive activities, and the sources that are deemed material vary across agencies.

• Tighter controls on silty water and harmful substances discharge

Companies will have to be more stringent in ensuring that silt and other harmful substances are not discharged into Singapore’s waterways, with national water agency PUB looking to tighten measures, said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, who was speaking in Parliament on the same day. 

No details were given on the specific measures, but she said that it would entail tightening controls on silt discharges into the island’s waterways and reservoirs, as well as the illegal discharge of dangerous and hazardous substances into the public sewerage system. 

• Waste packaging

The government is looking at expanding the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme to broader packaging-waste types.

The programme, which requires manufacturers and importers to bear the responsibility for the collection and treatment of their products when they reach end-of-life, currently applies to electronic waste and will soon cover beverage containers.

Khor said that the government has commissioned a consultancy study to review overseas best practices and recommend a suitable scheme for Singapore. The study is expected to be completed by 2025. 

• A new food-safety grading system 

Known as the Safety Assurance for Food Establishments framework, the new system will replace the existing one, under which food establishments’ safety standards are graded at the point of inspection. With the change, such businesses will be assessed based on their food-safety track record and the system they put in place to manage food safety.

Establishments involved in significant food handling with a larger scale of distribution, such as food manufacturers and caterers, will need to meet additional requirements to attain higher grades, compared to those of smaller scale, in line with the new system’s risk-based approach.

• Limits on formaldehyde in interior paint

Interior paints containing formaldehye will be banned in Singapore from Jan 1, 2026. Paint manufacturers and importers will have to submit test reports to the National Environment Agency (NEA) to show that the formaldehye content in each paint product is below 0.01 per cent weight by weight.

The test reports will have to be prepared by accredited laboratories.

This ban does not apply to industrial paints and paints used for outdoor applications, though these products will have to be labelled to inform users that they contain formaldehyde and are meant for industrial or outdoor use only.

• Transforming Singapore’s aquaculture sector

Singapore will be updating its plans to transform the aquaculture sector by the second half of this year, said Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon on Monday.

The aquaculture sector has been identified as having the potential to contribute to Singapore’s target of domestically producing 30 per cent of its nutritional needs by 2030.

The government is in discussions with industry players, nature groups and academics to see how aquaculture spaces can be increased and optimised, and what farming practices are most sustainable.

Reviewing regulations and developing sustainable farming practices are some of the recommendations that may be included in the final plan.

• Energy-efficiency labels on more appliances

From Apr 1 next year, NEA will be implementing labels and standards for household water heaters and commercial storage refrigerators. 

NEA will develop minimum energy standards to phase out inefficient water heaters and commercial refrigerators, and introduce an energy label with a five-tick rating scale. 

Khor said that the life-cycle cost of more efficient models is lower by as much as 60 per cent, compared with standard models. Food businesses can also apply for the energy-efficiency grant to offset up to 70 per cent of the upfront costs. 

• Sustainable waste-management training

The government has introduced a new course to reduce waste in companies following feedback that formal waste-management training for their workforce is needed to bridge knowledge gaps and gain a better understanding of sustainable waste-to-resource management practices. 

NEA has worked with training providers and the waste-management industry association to develop the course, which looks at how reducing, reusing and recycling waste can be integrated into organisations’ cultures, and how they can fulfil regulatory requirements. This includes 750 companies under the mandatory waste-reporting scheme. 

These two- to three-day courses will be subsidised by SkillsFuture Singapore.