National research centre to turn trash on landfill to treasure

TREASURES to Drive Innovation in Waste Solutions and Support Transformation of Semakau Landfill

The centre’s research efforts are organised across four dedicated nodes:

1. waste flow analytics, which maps and models waste streams across Singapore to identify opportunities for resource recovery;
2. landfill transformation, which develops technologies to recover and repurpose materials currently sent to Semakau Landfill;
3. toxic industrial waste solutions, which focuses on advanced treatment and recovery methods for complex industrial waste streams; and
4. risk assessment and standards, which ensures that repurposed materials meet stringent safety and environmental requirements for broader adoption.

 To drive research and innovation in these areas, TREASURES will launch its first grant call from 17 June to 16 August 2026. The grant call is open to all Institutes of Higher Learning, research institutes, and companies, and will support projects that advance practical, scalable solutions for residue and toxic industrial waste management, while strengthening collaboration across academia, industry, and government agencies.

Beyond its core research, TREASURES will build a collaborative innovation ecosystem to support the translation of research to full-scale adoption. This will be achieved through close industry engagement, access to test-bedding and regulatory platforms, capability building, and encouraging knowledge sharing and exchange through local and international partnerships.

These efforts will support longer-term goals, including the transformation of Semakau Landfill to enable more sustainable and circular approaches to waste and residue management, while reducing reliance on landfilling over time.

Mr Ng Keng Wei, Group Director (Joint Operations and Technology Group), NEA, said, “TREASURES strengthens Singapore’s capabilities in managing complex waste and residue streams by bringing together our Institutes of Higher Learning, industry partners and government agencies to co‑develop innovative, scalable solutions. Over time, this will support our transition towards a more circular and resource-efficient waste management system, including our long-term ambition to transform Semakau Landfill.”