National Environment Agency

• SINGAPORE, Oct. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore , celebrates an exceptional year with a series of international and local sustainability awards in the first three quarters of 2023.
• Continuing its sustainability journey, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore was listed among the "Top Six Green MICE Venues" by Visit Singapore 2023.
• Further solidifying its position as a sustainability champion, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore was welcomed into the esteemed Green Collection 2023 by GHA DISCOVERY.
• In addition to its sustainability awards, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore has garnered various prestigious accolades that highlight its commitment to delivering exceptional guest experiences.

• Kenya banned the use of plastic carrier bags in 2017, prompted by environmental and health costs.
• At the time, more than 100 million single-use plastic bags were handed out every year, making them the most commonly used carrier bags for shopping.

Why were plastic carrier bags banned and what are the penalties?

• Plastic bags clogged water drains and proliferated mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, and the burning of plastic bags has been associated with the release of chemicals with carcinogenic effects.
• A study sanctioned by the National Environment Management Agency in 2018 found that 50% of livestock slaughtered in Nairobi’s abattoirs had ingested plastic bags.
• Initially, the ban was greeted with cynicism because the government had tried before to ban plastic bags.
• No proper structures of monitoring were put in place to track the environmental benefits of banning plastic carrier bags for an accurate before-and-after picture.

What is the level of compliance?

• But traders could still access plastic bag carriers six years after the ban.
• As recently as April 2023, the Nairobi county government warned about the continued use of banned bags by traders in the capital.
• My study in 2019 found that small traders in Nairobi’s informal settlement of Kibera continued to use banned bags.

What must Kenya do to make the policy a success?

• Plastic bottles used for carbonated soft drinks, fruit juices, dilutable drinks and water are another problem.
• Plastic waste management in Kenya is largely informal – it’s collected by hand, sorted and packed for sale to recyclers.
• To bolster these efforts, Kenya is also moving towards imposing extended producer responsibility for the waste.

What about bringing the public on board?

• A 2021 Kenyan study found that the ownership of reusable bags tripled to 12 bags per household on average since the ban.
• Just as important is environmental education, which is a pathway to attitude change and a sense of responsibility.
• Environmental education should be integrated in all levels of the education system to raise people’s sensitivity to sustainability concerns.

• At an estimated project value of 370 million USD over 20 years, it will be Singapores largest district cooling system (DCS) to be implemented for an industrial development when operational in 2025.
• The cooling system will be STs first deployment of district cooling at a manufacturing facility globally.
• Group Chief Executive Officer of SP, Stanley Huang, said, District Cooling is a key sustainable energy solution to empower a low-carbon future for cities, townships, and industrial parks.
• The solution centralizes the production of chilled water which is then piped to buildings in the district for air-conditioning and process cooling.

• The HPC-AI Advisory Council (HPCAIAC) and National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore today announced the university team winners of its annual HPC-AI challenge, the 4th APAC HPC-AI Competition.
• This years competition consisted of 36 teams from 13 countries and regions in APAC.
• We congratulate this years winners and all the 2021 student competitors for going above and beyond to deliver truly inspiring work and solutions.
• The 4th APAC HPC-AI Competition Award Ceremony will be held at the SupercomputingAsia 2022 (SCA22) hybrid conference in Singapore on 2 March, 2022.