SGRecycle smart station
SGRecycle, a Singapore-based social recycling startup, has secured US$1.4 million in a seed funding round led by recycling industry company Tai Hing Group.
The startup plans to use the capital to expand its presence nationwide through scalable cloud computing and sensors deployed at its smart recycling stations.
“The ultimate goal is to have all SGRecycle stations islandwide at the most convenient and accessible place, everywhere in Singapore to encourage the nation to practice the recycling habits,” said JacQueline Lim, managing director of Tai Hing Group.
Launched in 2020, SGRecycle is a network of SGRecycle stations placed around Singapore. It allows contactless recycling of paper waste by combining built-in sensors and cloud technology.
“This reduces the risk of COVID infection and also increases the general public’s awareness of returning their trash for cash at the same time saving our environment together,” said Looi, co-founder of SGRecycle. “Everyone plays a part in this ecosystem.”
SGRecycle stations allow the general public to receive cash incentives or merchant vouchers when recycling waste paper. Sensors will calculate the weight of the waste paper and credit points to people’s mobile accounts.
Also read: How this Singaporean AI startup makes waste collection and recycling easy for cities, organisations
The startup claims it helps potentially increase 5-10 per cent of Singapore’s recycling rate, which has been at a 10-year low in 2020. This pullback is caused by the suspension of a sector (construction and demolition) with traditionally high recycling rates due to the pandemic. Singapore’s domestic recycling rate fell to just 13 per cent in 2020, compared to a domestic recycling rate of 32 per cent in the US, 46 per cent in the EU, and 67 per cent in Germany.
SGRecyle has piloted 30 stations at shopping malls, community centres, schools, and residential facilities in Singapore. The first SGRecycle station has been installed in Tampines, which strives to become a model Eco-Town by 2025 as part of Singapore’s Green Plan 2030.
The startup also plans to deploy more artificial intelligence (AI) and green components like facial recognition and solar panels in its stations. The firm could then utilise its data wall to analyse the big data received for recycling patterns and user behaviour insights.
Singapore aims to increase the domestic recycling rate from 22 to 30 per cent by 2030 and the non-domestic recycling rate to 81 per cent by 2030.
To achieve this goal, Singapore has applied the Extended Producer Responsibility regulations for electronic waste this year and for packaging waste by 2025, which means that companies will be responsible for the material they produce and use.
According to the “Singapore Green Technology and Sustainability Market Report”, the green technology and sustainability market in the country was valued at US$6.89 billion in 2018. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 26.8 per cent to US$36.31 billion by 2025.
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Image credit: SGRecycle
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