SGRecycle, a Singapore-based green technology start-up, said on Tuesday (Sept 21) that it raised $1.4 million in September from a seed funding round led by Recycling Industry Veteran Tai Hing Group to expand SGRecycle presence in Singapore.

SGRecycle said that it is pioneering a network of SGRecycle smart stations to be placed around Singapore which allows contactless recycling of paper waste by combining built-in sensors and cloud technology, this will potentially increase Singapore recycling rate by 5-10% which has been all-time low since 2019 post COVID-19 situation.

Founded in 2020, the company has been deploying SGRecycle pilot stations at 30 locations around Singapore, from shopping mall to community centres, schools and residential facilities. One of the first public deployments of SGRecycle station at AMK Hub has been met with overwhelming response. The SGRecycle station reportedly collected more waste paper by up to 10 times or more, with the one deployed to the first township of Tampines which strives to be model Eco-Town by 2025 in line with Singapore Green Plan 2030.

The general public can use SGRecycle station to recycle waste paper for some cash incentive or merchant vouchers. The box-shaped recycling station can sense and weigh paper waste to be recycled by user via sensors triggered when a significant amount of paper waste has been accumulated and credit points to their mobile account.

“This reduces the risk of COVID infection and also increase the general public awareness of returning their trash for cash as the same time saving our environment together,” said Mr Looi, Co-Founder of SGRecycle. “Everyone plays a part in this eco-system in line with Singapore Green Plan 2030. We hopes for a greener and cleaner Singapore by 2030.”

SGRecycle plans incorporate more AI & green elements like facial recognition and solar panels in future models. The big data could then be analysed via their algorithm on a data wall on recycling trends and user behaviour.

Source: SGRecycle