Page 186 - Shaping A Sustainable Future

Environmental Review

The environmental review was conducted from 18 March Horticultural waste is also generated from daily
2020 to 3 July 2020. Numerous planned site visits were maintenance operations such as pruning & clearing
cancelled due to the Covid-19 situation in the country. of dead plants and diseased plants (see Figure 3). The
Covid-19 has impacted many businesses in Singapore, horticulture waste generated is about three skip tanks
and the landscape industry is no exception. Many per week, 53 m3 on average = 159 m3 per week. Waste is
contracts had to be suspended, and many companies, loaded into the skid tank using an excavator (see Figure
including Prince’s Landscape, were forced to halt their 4). The waste them discarded by a recycling company,
operations during the Circuit Breaker period. Bee Joo Environmental Pte Ltd. The cost of discarding
this waste to the recycling company is, on average,
As such, the environmental review was conducted around $5000 a month (pre-CoVid-19). The costs
through minimal site visits and primarily via incurred per month varies due to the different types of
telecommunications. The focus of the environmental ongoing projects.
review was on three key areas – waste management,
pollution control and water management.

Environmental Aspects

Waste Management

During a site visit, the team observed that waste soil
generated in the nursery is mixed with various other
wastes such as concrete pieces and waste wood from
the furniture. It is not suitable for use as part of growth
media due to its poor quality.

Potted plants returned from the monthly rental
operation have dead roots entangled into the soil of the Figure 3: Waste pile in the nursery.
plant root ball. This root ball constitutes part of the soil
waste. Another type of soil waste is generated when
the client requests to replace the existing soil due to
waterlogging or stones found in the soil, which becomes
detrimental to the plants’ growth.

As part of the waste management of horticulture waste
in the nursery, a shredder was used to process the Figure 4: An excavator
waste to create mulch. However, the machine is now in filling.
a broken state of repair.

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