Environmental Public Health Act 1987 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3A · Waste Management
23. No disposal facility to be constructed, etc., without waste disposal licence
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 2023.
A person must not construct, establish, maintain or operate any disposal facility without a waste disposal licence granted by the Director‑General under this section.
disposal facility
“disposal facility” includes a recycling facility, a refuse disposal ground, any place used for the deposit of refuse or waste, an incinerator or any plant, machinery or apparatus used for the processing or treatment of refuse or waste;
Without limiting section 99(2), an application for the grant or renewal of a waste disposal licence must —
waste
“waste” includes —(a)any substance which constitutes a scrap material or an effluent or other unwanted surplus substance arising from the application of any process; and(b)any substance or article which requires to be disposed of as being broken, worn out, contaminated or otherwise spoiled,and anything which is discarded or otherwise dealt with as if it were waste is presumed to be waste unless the contrary is proved;
be in the form and manner specified by the Director-General;
be accompanied by an application fee, if prescribed; and
be accompanied by any prescribed information that the Director-General requires to decide on the application, including but not limited to the following:
a progressive wage plan for the waste disposal workers that the applicant employs who are citizens or permanent residents of Singapore, that complies with the prescribed requirements;
evidence that such proportion of the waste disposal workers that the applicant employs, have attended such training and at such frequency, as the Director-General may specify.
The Director-General may refuse to consider an application that is incomplete or not made in accordance with subsection (1A).
Director-General
“Director-General” means the Director-General of Public Health appointed under section 3(1);
The Director‑General may grant a waste disposal licence authorising any person to construct, establish, maintain or operate any disposal facility.
A waste disposal licence may be granted under this section following a public tender or in any other manner that the Director‑General thinks fit.
The Director-General may subdivide waste disposal licences into classes, such as according to the type of waste that may be received, stored, sorted, treated or processed at the disposal facility maintained or operated by the waste disposal licensee, and may grant or renew a waste disposal licence accordingly for one or more such classes.
waste disposal licensee
“waste disposal licensee” means any person who is licensed under section 23 to construct, establish, maintain or operate any disposal facility;
Except as otherwise prescribed under section 99(9), the Director‑General may require any waste disposal licensee to render a payment on the grant of a waste disposal licence under this section or such periodic payments during the currency of the waste disposal licence or both of such amount or amounts as the Director‑General may determine by or under the waste disposal licence.
Without limiting section 99(1), conditions attached to a waste disposal licence granted under this section may include —
a condition requiring the waste disposal licensee to comply with any standard of service and level of performance that the Director‑General may specify;
[Deleted by Act 5 of 2023 wef 01/07/2023]
a condition regulating the charge to be levied by the waste disposal licensee for the provision of the waste disposal facility; and
a condition requiring the waste disposal licensee not to accept any waste which in the opinion of the Director‑General is not suitable for disposal.
The Director-General may —
under section 99(1)(c), impose different conditions for different classes of waste disposal licences or waste disposal licensees under different circumstances; and
despite section 99(13), modify any condition or add any new condition during the period to which a waste disposal licence relates, if the Director-General is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so,except that any such condition or modification must not be inconsistent with any prescribed condition referred to in section 23A(1) or (2).
The Director-General may by written notice require any owner or occupier of any work place to construct, establish, maintain or operate any disposal facility.
occupier
“occupier” means the person in occupation of any premises or having the charge, management or control thereof either on that person’s own account or as agent of another person; and, in relation to any part of any premises, different parts of which are occupied by different persons, means the person in occupation or having the charge, management or control of that part;
Any person using, working or operating a disposal facility must use, work or operate the disposal facility in any manner that the Director‑General may require.
Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
If in any proceedings for a contravention of subsection (1) it is shown that any premises are being used as a disposal facility, it is presumed, until the contrary is proved, that the occupier of the premises has constructed, established, maintained or operated the disposal facility.
premises
“premises” means messuages, buildings, lands, easements and hereditaments of any tenure, whether open or enclosed, whether built on or not, whether public or private, and whether maintained or not under statutory authority, and includes any place or structure, or any part thereof used or intended to be used for human habitation or for any other purpose whatsoever;