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SINGAPORE: The day may come when the burning of waste will not pollute the air you breathe. That is what a team from Nanyang Polytechnic is working on.
It is one of five teams working on new and cost-efficient ways to manage waste with funds from the National Environment Agency (NEA).
The work to burn waste can cause havoc to the air, producing harmful substances like nitrogen oxides. The damage can be cut down by filtering out the substances.
The Nanyang Polytechnic team, led by lecturer Sim Gia Wen, has been working on a solution that will make a bigger difference.
Its project is to develop lower-cost cerium oxide catalyst elements to remove gaseous air pollutants. Currently, catalyst materials are based on the more expensive titanium dioxide.
Also working to save the environment is a team from Nanyang Technological University. Its job is to find a faster way to make landfills suitable for use - such as property development.
The answer lies in a bio-chemical agent that helps to stabilise the landfill faster.
Principal investigator, Professor Ng Wun Jern, said: "If you look at the typical landfill operations, we are looking at 30 to 40 years before the landfill is stabilised for the next phase of utilisation.
"We are looking at shortening it to 10 to 15 years, so that is quite a dramatic reduction in terms of time required."
A total of S$4.8 million has been given to five teams under NEA's Environment Technology Research Programme. They are expected to complete their projects in three years.
- CNA/ir
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