Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) has denied that the city-state allows the export of construction and demolition (C&D) waste for disposal in Pontian, Johor, Malaysia. The NEA confirmed that Singapore does not permit any construction waste to be exported for disposal purposes and requires all such waste to be processed and sorted locally for recycling, with only homogeneous recyclable materials such as ferrous scrap allowed for export under regulation [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].

The statement came after Malaysian media reports on August 8 alleged that construction waste from Singapore was being dumped illegally in Pontian. In response, Johor’s Solid Waste Corporation (SWCorp) contacted the NEA and provided a list of nine Malaysian companies allegedly linked to the illegal dumping of C&D waste sourced from Singapore for verification [1, 2, 3, 5]. NEA said it has not established the involvement of any Singapore companies in these activities [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].

Johor SWCorp opened four investigation papers into possible offences relating to illegal dumping, storage, and transfer of controlled solid waste. SWCorp added that shipments of Singapore’s C&D waste to Malaysia have been halted immediately pending review of the involved parties in Singapore. “Singapore’s NEA informed us that shipments of C&D waste from Singapore to Malaysia would be stopped with immediate effect, while further reviews would be conducted on the parties involved in Singapore,” SWCorp said [1].

Local residents in Pontian have reported nightly convoys of about 20 trailers unloading construction waste, with such activities suspected to have occurred over approximately two years [5]. NEA emphasized that illegal disposal of construction waste can pollute the environment and pose risks to public health. “NEA takes a serious view of any illegal disposal of waste, as it pollutes the environment and can be a hazard to public health,” NEA said [1].

To prevent such incidents, Singapore has issued advisories to licensed General Waste Disposal Facilities, reminding them of legal requirements concerning the handling of C&D waste [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The regulatory framework mandates local processing and sorting to facilitate recycling.

NEA and Johor SWCorp held discussions on August 18 to clarify responsibilities and coordinate investigations related to the issue [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].