About a tenth of the material required to reclaim land for Tuas Port Phase 3 in Singapore could come from the country’s only landfill, which will free up a lot of its capacity.
Within the next five years, the National Environment Agency (NEA) aims to mine the landfill waste and possibly mix it with cement to use as an alternative to sand for the reclamation, according to The Straits Times.
The plan is to excavate about 10 million cubic metres of landfill waste, which is about 35% of the capacity of the Semakau Landfill.
Tuas Port Phase 3, currently being planned, will need more than 100 million cubic metres of reclamation fill.
The NEA said it was working with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) to study the use of mixed materials from Semakau Landfill for reclamation.
“Mixed material” refers to materials such as incineration bottom ash and wastewater sludge that are dumped into the landfill.
”If mixed materials could be used as reclamation fill, the requirement for conventional fill material such as sand can be reduced and space at Semakau Landfill freed up,” the NEA said.
At current waste disposal rates the landfill is expected to be filled up by 2035.
Without providing details, the MPA said it was also studying the development of a system to track the activities of maritime drones in Singapore’s waters to ensure safety of port users.
