What would it take to get Singaporeans to recycle more at home? Do we impose fines for throwing non-recyclable items into the Bloobins? Should we increase charges for plastic bags at supermarkets? Will vouchers incentivise people to recycle properly?

These were among the ideas 28 Singaporeans aged 15 to 35 have been discussing as part of a broader National Youth Council (NYC) initiative that not only provides an avenue for young people to voice their views on issues but also actively participate in the creation of national policies to solve them.

Since November 2023, these young people have been meeting monthly as part of the #GreenHacks youth panel to come up with a new policy suggestion to solve Singapore’s recycling woes. Their search for fresh solutions is timely as Singapore's household recycling rate in 2023 stagnated at its lowest point in over a decade, with just 12 per cent of all rubbish recycled.

Improving the household recycling rate will help Singapore achieve its goal of a 70 per cent overall recycling rate by 2030. There is still some way to go as the overall recycling rate in 2023 – which includes figures from both domestic and non-domestic sectors – was 52 per cent.  

The #GreenHacks panel is one of the four Youth Panels – an outcome from the Forward SG exercise that gives young people a platform to be active citizens in shaping Singapore's future. Three other panels – #LifeHacks, #JobHacks and #TechHacks – look at financial security, employment opportunities and digital wellbeing, respectively. 

The four panels comprised 120 members who were chosen through an open call that ensured a good representation of views across different backgrounds, experiences, ethnicities, expertise and skills. 

Step-by-step approach to complex policymaking 

The diversity of participants from across the youth population also gave the #GreenHacks panel a boost. 

“Having a diverse group helped contribute to a very well-rounded and inclusive discussion, one that is not just focused on a specific population,” says Miss Sivanisswary Manoharan. The 24-year-old is a technical business development manager with LifeStrands Genomics in the healthcare sector.

From the get-go in November, Miss Sivanisswary and her fellow youth panellists quickly learned that their task was not just to brainstorm fresh solutions to improve Singapore's recycling rate. They had to understand the problem from all sides, think of realistic ways to solve the problem while considering stakeholders and public behaviours, and then document in detail the proposed solutions and their implementation, complete with supporting research and data. From this, they gleaned first-hand insights into the complexities of policymaking. 

The first lesson they learned was that with a diversity of viewpoints, disagreements were inevitable. From as early as initial discussions, the young panellists learnt the number one lesson of policymaking: agreeing to disagree respectfully while not losing sight of their goal. 

The panellists were supported by leads and advisors from NYC's networks and government agency representatives who shared their experience and know-how in policymaking and recycling. They also facilitated discussions to achieve specific outcomes within the given timeframe.

“When we had engagements with the civil servants, I really came to understand the complexities behind policymaking. This has been very eye-opening for me,” says panellist Adam Morier, a 23-year-old national serviceman.

To start the group on solid footing, NYC conducted workshops for the panellists to understand the multiple steps and layers that go into policymaking before any new law or policy can be rolled out. 

The panellists were also introduced to design thinking tools like the Known-Unknown Matrix and stakeholder mapping to dissect policy problems and understand trade-offs. 

Simultaneously, the panel discussed the topics they could explore before voting on possible solutions to take forward.

They then proceeded to unpack the possible solutions across four sub-teams covering policy deliberation and analysis, research, stakeholder engagement and communication, and policy writing.

The #GreenHacks panel gained even more practical experience when it rolled out a survey questionnaire for the general public to gather data on public attitudes and behaviours towards recycling. This process in designing and planning research methodologies highlighted the importance of gathering views from multiple stakeholders to inform policy development. 

That exercise in April was critical for the team to verify their problem statement and to properly inform the subsequent policy-writing stage of the policymaking process.

Important lessons and key takeaways

Like his fellow panellists, Mr Aidan Ng Qirui learned some basics of policymaking through the #GreenHacks panel. For the 16-year-old St Andrew's Secondary School student, being a part of the panel showed him how policymaking requires a balance of realism and idealism.

For example, one of the ideas the panel explored was to create compartments in the Bloobins for different types of recyclables. However, during a learning journey with industry partners, panel members gained crucial insights into the recycling process.

They discovered that current recycling trucks cannot accommodate different compartments, meaning pre-sorted recyclables would still end up mixed during collection. As a result, the #GreenHacks panel is now exploring a solution that can be implemented more readily without overhauling the existing recycling infrastructure, says Mr Ng.

Miss Sivanisswary agrees with him, adding that policymaking must not only balance ambition with feasibility but also approach behavioural changes step by step.

She gave the example of another idea the panel explored, which was about fining people for improper recycling. For her, adding more penalties in a city already known for its many fines could lead to resentment.

“It's about finding the right balance between achieving our recycling targets and maintaining public support,” says Miss Sivanisswary.

She adds that when it comes to changing people's habits, it is difficult to implement drastic changes overnight. “There are numerous factors at play, and not everyone will readily adapt.”

Ready for the future

Taking all that they have learned and worked on in the last nine months, the panellists have to decide in August on one policy recommendation to be presented at the Youth Policy Forum. 

Whether or not their recommendation will be taken up by the government for further deliberation and possible implementation, the youth panellists say they will continue the work of raising awareness and educating the public about recycling. 

“Beyond August, I can definitely see myself and everyone else in the panel being involved in raising awareness of recycling, for us to be advocates for the cause that we're trying to change and make an impact on,” says Mr Morier. 

He and his fellow panellists are determined to blaze new paths from now on to lead by example when it comes to sustainability, for example, by refusing single-use plastics, reminding others to recycle and buying only from sustainable sources.

In this respect, the Youth Panel has already led to positive behavioural changes towards recycling in this group of young Singaporeans.

Additionally, they now also understand their role as active citizens who have different avenues to help distil the aspirations of young people into a shared vision for their future together. 

“The youth panel has been able to bring the younger generation together on a sustained basis over many months to ideate for solutions that will hopefully be implemented by the government,” says Mr Ng. 

“It has not been about fitting in the youth as just pieces of the puzzle to a problem but we're actually given the opportunity to see through the whole process of policymaking,” he adds. 

Share your views on the policy recommendations by the youth panellists. Sign up for the Youth Policy Forum today.