Singapore launches $35m centre to tackle toxic industrial waste

NEA, NTU, and NUS will develop recycling, recovery and landfill tech solutions.

Singapore has launched its first national research centre dedicated to residue and toxic industrial waste management, supported by $35m in funding to develop technologies for waste treatment, resource recovery, and landfill transformation.

The centre was announced by Senior minister of state for sustainability and the environment Dr Janil Puthucheary at Catalyst 2026 on 17 June.

Known as Towards Resource Efficiency And Sustainability for URban EnvironmentS (TREASURES), the centre is a national research and innovation platform.

It was jointly established by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and other institutes of higher learning participating as partners.

TREASURES is supported under the Closing The Resource Loop Funding Initiative (RIE 2025). NTU will host the centre from 1 January 2026 to 31 March 2030 and has committed facilities to support its operations.

According to NEA, the centre was established to strengthen Singapore’s capabilities in managing residue and toxic industrial waste as waste streams become more complex and land constraints persist.

Research activities will be organised across four areas, namely waste flow analytics, landfill transformation, toxic industrial waste solutions, and risk assessment and standards.

The waste flow analytics programme will focus on mapping and modelling waste streams to identify resource recovery opportunities.

Landfill transformation research will develop technologies to recover and repurpose materials currently sent to Semakau Landfill.

The toxic industrial waste solutions programme will focus on treatment and recovery methods for complex industrial waste streams, whilst the risk assessment and standards programme will evaluate the safety and environmental suitability of repurposed materials.

The centre will launch its first grant call from 17 June to 17 August 2026. The programme will be open to institutes of higher learning, research institutes, and companies working on residue and toxic industrial waste management technologies.

Beyond research, TREASURES will work with industry, government agencies, and academic institutions to support the testing and adoption of new technologies.

NEA said these efforts are intended to support longer-term plans for Semakau Landfill and broader initiatives aimed at improving resource efficiency and reducing reliance on landfilling.