Circular economy solutions can break cycle of escalating waste: Low Yen Ling

WITH rising global demand for food supplies and fast-depleting resources being issues at play, clever circular economy solutions have the potential to break the cycle of escalating waste, said Low Yen Ling, Minister of State for Trade and Industry (MTI) on Tuesday (Jun 21).

“Increasingly, businesses are expected to show greater responsibility toward protecting the environment as their customers feel the growing impact of climate change,” Low said. “On the upside, this creates new potential for food and beverage (F&B) brands to innovate and become front-runners in sustainability.”

The Food Services Industry Transformation Map 2025 launched in May, which will see Enterprise Singapore (ESG) work with food service companies to support further greening, and a S$220 million commitment to encourage initiatives in resource circularity and water technologies under the Urban Solutions & Sustainability (USS) effort of the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 (RIE2025) plan are some ways the government is supporting enterprises in sustainability, she pointed out.

Low was speaking at a media event launching a pilot programme between Singaporean startup TRIA and fast food giant KFC Singapore - which aims to implement a circular recycling model for single-use packaging.

Plant-based packaging created by TRIA together with leftover food will be channelled as one organic stream to be converted to compost using accelerated digestion technologies - from which fertilisers are extracted and sent to farms to be used in food production.

The 6-month long pilot, supported by Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) and MTI, will first take effect at the KFC outlet in Northpoint City. If the pilot turns out well, KFC intends to implement this programme to all of its 80 outlets in Singapore, noted Lynette Lee, general manager of KFC Singapore.

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“We invested a lot of time developing the packaging and testing with TRIA,” said Lee. “Our current packaging though made of paper, has a very thin film of plastic because it holds liquid well and doesn’t get out of shape. So the development work with TRIA to create the new packaging takes very long, it is not overnight.”

Aiming to solve the gaps in sustainability and the circularity in waste management processes, TRIA realised that the problem is not single and isolated but rather a complex system problem, noted chief executive officer (CEO) of TRIA, Ng Pei Kang.

“This system problem is a combination of technology, behaviour and business model - in terms of who takes ownership of waste,” Ng said.

Stakeholders along the whole value chain - food production, facing customers, waste collection, validation - need to play their respective parts, he added.

Managing customer behaviour is one key challenge Lee foresees in the pilot. For instance, there are reusable black trays that if thrown away along with the packaging and food - doesn’t allow for the digestor processing led by TRIA to take place.

“On our part, it is to educate the customers at the store to return the black trays and not throw it in the rubbish bin which is only for paper and food waste,” she added.

TRIA is a “close-the-loop” company for packaging solutions - working with clients from concept, development to manufacturing, as well as in lifecycle carbon assessments, to develop an end-end ecosystem that helps them meet their sustainability goals.

The company uses what it terms the Bio24 programme - a 24-hour process that renews waste from single-use foodware and food waste into nutrient-enriched, organic compost ready to pack and send to farms. The Soup Soon and Crave are other major F&B players it has partnerships with.

Catalist-listed environmental services provider Shanaya, urban farming pioneer Comcrop, agribusiness consulting firm The Boralis Group, and Norwegian chemical company Yara International are other partners involved in the pilot.

Shanaya supports TRIA with facilities and logistics to help create the compost out of food waste; while Boralis Group and Yara extract industry-standard fertilisers out of the compost. Comcrop buys and uses the respective fertilisers for its farming efforts - the fertilisers are also exported overseas.

“Waste management is very wide - this is one type of process, creating organic fertilisers,” said Mohamed Ansari, CEO of Shanaya. “Boralis Group, Yara enhance the compost to create standardised and uniform fertilisers that can be used on farms.”

“TRIA has been strengthening its innovation capabilities over the years, and this collaboration with KFC will validate a food waste circular model, which will be in line with the global push for sustainability efforts. Enterprise Singapore will also continue to support companies with promising solutions like TRIA to expand into international markets,” said Soh Leng Wan, assistant CEO (manufacturing and engineering) of EnterpriseSG.