Reader Response Draft 2

In the article “Duo turn plastic waste into a concrete idea,” Goy (2016) reports technology company, BlueRen aims to commercialise recycling of plastic waste into a concrete additive, which will in turn reduce the use of cement in making concrete. Unlike conventional methods of recycling, BlueRen uses a more environmental-friendly mineral as the catalyst and could produce a 10 percent output of carbon nanotubes from the plastic waste product in 2016. This in turn will reduce cement consumption by 30 percent. With BlueRen’s technological breakthrough, the long-incubated recycling process of the industry can finally be upscaled while ensuring that the previous level of cost and harmful environmental drawbacks is at minimal. With the implementation of BlueRen technology, recycling efforts in Singapore could not only improve, but also provide benefits of various aspects to the country.

Firstly, there is a need to address Singapore’s effort towards recycling plastic waste.  According to the article "Singapore: throw-away nation", Tan (2017) recalls a 2013 study by non-governmental organisation Singapore Environment Council(SEC) that 824,600 tonnes of plastic waste was generated in 2015 but only 7 percent was recycled. This means that based on current technology, an estimate of 57,722 tonnes of plastic waste are being converted into useful products. This approach has been in use since 2001 and has not made any changes since then. Should Singapore choose to adopt the recycling technology by BlueRen, an estimate of 82,460 tonnes of plastic wastes could be converted and used in the making of concrete. From this article, it is clear that Singapore should look towards making changes for environmental sustainability by implementing the technology by BlueRen.

With Singapore being a country that is not only small, but also densely populated, it is crucial for her to continue to look towards innovative ideas that manages land scarcity. The advantages of recycling can therefore prove to be essential Singapore. According to the article” Why Recycle Plastics?”, West (2017) reports that recycling one ton of plastic saves an estimate of 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space. This is further supported in the article “Land is a resource that must be managed carefully: Heng Swee Keat”, where Mohandas (2015) quotes Finance Minister Heng Swee Kiat in stating that Singapore should constantly be aware when it comes to managing the usage of its land so as to "achieve sustainable development".  

In addition, BlueRen technology should be considered for it is able to reduce the use of cement in making concrete. In a statistics report by the Building Construction Authority (2017), the monthly price index for concrete has been on a rise from 102.6 in May 2017 to 103.5 in July 2017. This data indicates that the prices of concrete is increasing and this would inevitably lead to an increase in prices of flats. With the implementation of BlueRen technology, plastic waste can be converted into carbon nanotubes, which can be used as a concrete additive. As a result, this would decrease the amount of concrete used in constructing flats, thus reducing the cost of building housing flats.

In conclusion, BlueRen has offered several long-term solutions from improving Singapore’s effort towards recycling plastic waste, to managing its land scarcity and a cheaper cost of building flats.

References

Duo turn plastic waste into a concrete idea. (2016). The Straits Times. Retrieved January 11, 2016 from
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/duo-turn-plastic-waste-into-a-concrete-idea

Singapore: throw-away nation. (2017). The Straits Times. Retrieved Jan 15, 2017 from
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-throw-away-nation

Why Recycle Plastics? (2017). ThoughtCo. Retrieved, March 29, 2017 fromhttps://www.thoughtco.com/benefits-of-plastic-recycling-1204142

Land is a resource that must be managed carefully: Heng Swee Keat. (2017). Channel NewsAsia.Retrieved, October 29, 2015 from
www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/land-is-a-resource-that-must-be-managed-carefully-heng-swee-keat-8251928

Construction Demand, Tender Price Index & Construction Materials. (2017). Building and Construction Authority. Retrieved, September 22, 2017 from
https://www.bca.gov.sg/keyconstructioninfo/others/free_stats.pdf

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