Sustainability Trends in Singapore for 2025
Learn about the key sustainability trends UOB FinLab is focusing on for 2025.
Post GreenTech Accelerator 2024: UOB’s Corporate Real Estate Services (CRES) X Circular Unite
It has been half a year since the team at UOB FinLab culminated its GreenTech Accelerator 2024 (GTA). We decided to check in with one of the GreenTech participants and see the progress that is being made.
To recap, during the six months programme, the selected GreenTechs tackled real-world sustainability pain-points from more than 50 challenge statements to co-create solutions for partnerships and pilot projects. These statements were contributed by 27 challenge partners including UOB as well as our corporate partners.
During the programme, the 33 participating GreenTech firms proposed solutions based on the challenge statements and 16 pilots were selected for funding by UOB FinLab to kick start various pilot projects.
One exciting pilot project is between UOB’s Corporate Real Estate Service(CRES) department and Circular Unite.
Reducing Waste through Data
UOB CRES is constantly looking for ways to reduce waste through data. To solve this issue, Circular Unite proposed a solution that will result in the deployment of their waste audit and profiling blueprint at UOB CRES that allows for detailed measuring of waste generated at the tenant level at UOB Plaza Singapore. This will help create waste data visibility and potentially improve operational efficiency of waste data collection.
Circular Unite commenced this project with a comprehensive waste audit conducted at the waste bin center of UOB Plaza over four days in January 2025.
This extensive exercise uncovers the waste generated by the tenants/locations in Plaza 1 and 2 to develop data points. The audit examined waste streams from both F&B tenants, departments and locations within UOB Plaza.
Circular Unite collected the waste from Plaza 1 and 2, carefully sorted each waste, weighed, and documented it into nine distinct categories:
- General Waste – non-recyclable waste
- Paper – Includes newspaper, magazines and paper packaging
- Plastic – Includes clean plastic bottles, containers and packaging
- Metal – Includes clean aluminium cans, tin cans and metal containers
- Glass – Includes clean glass bottles and jars
- Food – All food items that are sortable from the general waste including coffee grounds
- e-Waste – Disposal of electronic items
- Carton – Includes clean carton boxes, brown paper bags and corrugated cardboard
- Tetra Pak – Includes clean beverage cartons
While the audit may seem extremely intensive, this level of detail is crucial for UOB to uncover new actionable information or knowledge, ensure accurate reporting of waste and recyclables and plan for actionable next steps for improved waste management.
The Insights
Circular Unite’s innovative data-driven approach that leverages AI and analytics makes it easy for customers like UOB CRES to capture, track, visualise and manage waste and recyclables.
By having full visibility on the waste journey, UOB CRES is able to propose solutions that are backed by real data points that is broken down into the nine distinct categories. This enables UOB CRES to identify key waste outputs and determine the recycling potential all the way down to the specific UOB floors and tenants.
To give an example, the data uncovered valuable insights into the following areas:
Recyclables
- The data uncovered that food waste and carton boxes form half of the recyclable’s weightage for UOB Plaza. With this insight, a proposed solution was a food waste digester as an onsite solution to divert food waste from general disposal, as well as a carton box cage.
- The waste audit also analyses the recyclable material weightages of non-segregated and pre-segregated. This gives UOB CRES insights on the potential of our recycling improvement rate if the waste segregation is done right.
- UOB CRES can also initiate targeted collaboration with individual tenants such as recycling programmes, improved logistics or alternative disposal methods.
Sufficient capacity for the waste management facility
- The time-based analysis included in the waste audit enables UOB CRES to better manage the waste management facility. This ensures that there is sufficient capacity at the waste management facility and there is no overflow of waste.
Addressing Real Challenges with Impactful Solutions
The biggest impact for UOB CRES is that it now has a better reference to the estimated waste generated by UOB levels in UOB Plaza, against external tenants. This data can be used for UOB’s annual Sustainability Report which is externally assured and backed by real data.
Sustainability is an ongoing effort where there is always room for improvement. Data can unveil value added findings, such as the waste trend analysis which showcases there’s an opportunity for UOB to improve its waste management infrastructure.
Beyond the audit, UOB CRES can leverage Circular Unite’s dashboard — N.A.T.A.L.I.E — that enables end users to easily manage the massive amount of data through monitoring, measurement and efficiently managing waste all on one platform. This opens opportunities for additional insights that can be discovered through ongoing monitoring and tracking.
Advancing Sustainability Efforts Together
From left: Marianne Tan, Programme Director, UOB FinLab & Ecosystems, Shannon Lung, Head, UOB FinLab & Ecosystems, Emmanual Tay, Co- founder, Circular Unite and Janet Young, Head, Group Channels & Digitalisation, Group Strategic Communications and Brand, UOB.
Taken during our GTA Showcase day last November.
UOB FinLab is proud to organise the GreenTech Accelerator 2024. The programme showcases how collective action can solve real-world sustainability challenges – with UOB CRES and Circular Unite as a great example.
The programme demonstrates our ongoing commitment to build a sustainable future by providing access to masterclasses, mentorships and networking opportunities. Programme participants can deepen business connections through UOB FinLab’s vast network of over 32,000 industry leaders including government agencies, solutions providers, and private and public businesses.
UOB FinLab will continue to accelerate sustainability innovation in ASEAN and has plans to launch more programmes focusing on driving adoption and innovation in sustainability in 2025. Stay up to date by following us on LinkedIn and subscribe to our newsletter.
Post GreenTech Accelerator 2024: UOB’s Corporate Real Estate Services (CRES) X Circular Unite
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