HDPE bottles and containers
Recyclable?
Blue Bins & Chutes
Other Recycling
Recommended
Recycling Bins & Chutes
Always clean first. If it is not possible to clean it, throw it in the trash.
Blue Bins
Alternative
Specialised Recycling
Some organisations accept donations of clean HDPE for small recycling projects. You can reach some directly or others via UpCircle App.
Upcircle
Plastify
Alternative
Freecycle / Give Away
Some groups use plastic milk bottles for upcycling projects
Terra SG
Info & Insights
HDPE is type #2 Plastic. White HDPE is the most commercially recycled consumer plastic waste. Other colours of HDPE are less likely to get recycled by commercial operators however some small plastic recycling projects take advantage of non-white HDPE to make colourful products.
Singapore does not have a domestic plastic recycling industry. Most recycling of Singapore plastic is done in Malaysia.
Overall plastic recycling rates in Singapore are very low (6% in 2021). But why? Well one of the biggest factors is economics. It is mostly not profitable to recycle plastic. Meaning new plastic is cheaper to produce than recycled plastic. But as companies are under increasing pressure to use recycled plastic, those economics may change.
Note that this is not just a Singapore problem: this is a global problem. There are very few places in the world that have achieved significant plastic recycling rates.
