Reflection on field trip to Tuas Incineration Plant

     1) What are your 2 key takeaways from the trip?

One of my key takeaways is that it is very important to reduce, reuse and recycle to reduce the amount of waste we produce. This is because it is expensive to build waste incineration plants which costs up to $1 billion to help reduce the total waste present. My next key takeaway is that it is difficult to have proper waste management as there are a lot of problems that result from the incineration process such as the need to filter what can be burned and the ways to reduce pollution caused by the incineration process. 

2) Where were some thought/emotions you had during talk and the sight/smell tour?

During the talk, I found it quite shocking that in such a small country like Singapore, we produce a lot of waste every day. During the tour, I found the waste to give off a pungent smell and found out that a lot of work was needed for waste management.

3) Singapore has the largest Waste Incineration Plant in the world. Is this something that we have to be proud of? If yes, provide reasons. If no, provide reasons. You can have a yes and no answer but you have to support it with reasons.

Yes. I think that having the largest waste incineration plant is something to be proud of as the waste incineration plant helps to reduce the total amount of waste that goes to landfills. This also helps to reduces pollution caused by the waste when moved to landfills. The incineration plant is also very efficient as it operates 365 days a year and burns up to 1,700 tonnes of refuse which shows that Singapore is concerned about proper waste management. However, having the largest waste incineration plant is also not something we should be proud of as it shows that a small country like Singapore produces a huge amount of waste in a day that has detrimental effects on the environment. The incineration plants are also very expensive and hence a lot of resources are used on waste management instead of other areas such as education which might affect economic growth.