Environmental Public Health Act 1987 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3A · Waste Management
31. Licensing of persons carrying on business of collecting, removing, etc., of refuse or waste
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 2023.
A person must not carry on the business of collecting, removing, transporting, storing or importing refuse or waste of any description without a waste collector licence granted by the Director‑General under this section.
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;
Without limiting section 99(2), an application for the grant or renewal of a waste collector licence must —
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 collection 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 collection 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 collector licence authorising any person to carry on the business of collecting, removing, transporting, storing or importing refuse or waste of any description.
The Director‑General may designate any person who has been granted a waste collector licence under this section as a public waste collector licensee.
public waste collector licensee
“public waste collector licensee” means a person designated by the Director‑General under section 31(3);
A waste collector 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 collector licences, whether granted or renewed before, on or after the date of commencement of section 13(c) of the Environmental Public Health (Amendment) Act 2023, into classes, such as according to the type of refuse or waste that may be collected, removed, transported, stored or imported by the waste collector licensee, and may grant or renew a waste collector licence accordingly for one or more such classes.
waste collector licensee
“waste collector licensee” means any person who is licensed under section 31 to collect and remove refuse and waste;
Except as otherwise prescribed under section 99(9), the Director‑General may require any waste collector licensee to render a payment on the grant of a waste collector licence under this section or such periodic payments during the currency of the waste collector licence or both of such amount or amounts as the Director‑General may determine by or under the waste collector licence.
Without limiting section 99(1), conditions attached to a waste collector licence granted under this section may include —
a condition requiring the waste collector licensee to comply with such standard of service and level of performance as the Director‑General may specify;
a condition restricting, in a manner specified in the waste collector licence, the provision by the waste collector licensee of the service of collecting and removing refuse or waste to premises which are of a class or description so specified and to the area so specified; and (c)[Deleted by Act 5 of 2023 wef 01/07/2023]
a condition regulating the charge to be levied by the waste collector licensee for the provision of the service of collecting and removing refuse or waste.
The Director-General may —
under section 99(1)(c), impose different conditions for different classes of waste collector licences or waste collector licensees under different circumstances; and
despite section 99(13), modify any condition or add any new condition during the period to which a waste collector 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 31AA(1) or (2).
Any person who collects or transports refuse or waste of any description must ensure that the refuse or waste or liquid from the refuse or waste is not dropped, scattered or spilled onto any public place.
public place
“public place” includes any place whether privately owned or not to which the public has access;
Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.