North West CDC initiates move to recycle 2.5m bottles yearly
By Ng Baoying, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 24 June 2007 2332 hrs

	Photos  of

SINGAPORE: Lined up side-by-side, bottles given out to Brisk Walking Club members after their workout could go around Singapore four times as there are 2.5 million bottles in all.

To make sure these bottles are not wasted, the North West Community Development Council has started a drive to encourage members to recycle.

The move came ahead of the CDC's first Green Festival, which is taking place in July.

Singaporeans disposed 660,000 tonnes of plastic waste last year, of which only 12 percent were recycled.

So the event on Sunday is the first step in encouraging environmental friendliness.

Liang Eng Hwa, MP, Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, said: "We're a small island state, densely populated. It's not difficult to appreciate why we need to recycle. With population growth and increasing affluence, I think the amount of waste generated will be increasing, which is why we need to emphasise the need for recycling even more.

"In the case of North West CDC Brisk Walking Club, we have monthly walks. After each walk, we give our participants bottles of water for them to quench their thirst. If we can get our residents to collect all these bottles and send them for recycling, it's a big step forward."


- CNA/so