CDE research expertise in environmental resilience and turning complex waste materials into reusable resources will play a central role in a new national initiative to advance waste innovation in Singapore and build a more resource-efficient future.
Launched on 17 June by Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, Dr Janil Puthucheary, at Catalyst 2026, the Towards Resource Efficiency And Sustainability for URban EnvironmentS (TREASURES) centre will be Singapore’s first national research centre dedicated to advancing science and innovation in residue and toxic industrial waste management.
With the Semakau Landfill site projected to reach capacity by 2035, the TREASURES initiative focuses on developing sustainable and resilient approaches to residue and toxic industrial waste, supporting the transformation of Singapore’s only landfill and strengthening the country’s long-term waste resilience.
The new centre aims to drive research and translation of new solutions that can reduce residue and toxic industrial waste, increase recovery and reuse, and build stronger local expertise and industry innovation in sustainable waste management.
Closing The Resource Loop
Jointly established by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, with NTU as host institute, TREASURES brings together government, academia and industry to develop practical and scalable solutions for complex waste streams that are hard to treat, recover or safely reuse. It also brings together the broader Singapore research ecosystem, with NUS as a key partner.
Backed by S$35 million under NEA’s Closing The Resource Loop Funding Initiative, the centre will support research projects, industry collaborations, innovation pilots and capability-building activities from 2026 to 2030.
The centre’s work is organised across four research nodes: waste flow analytics, landfill transformation, toxic industrial waste solutions, and risk assessment and standards. Together, these nodes are designed to address the full pathway from understanding Singapore’s waste streams, to developing technologies that can recover and repurpose materials, to ensuring that reused materials meet safety and environmental requirements.
The initiative builds on longstanding research strengths at CDE’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) in areas including environmental resilience, waste treatment, sustainable construction materials, environmental chemistry, biotechnology and data-driven environmental assessment.
This expertise will be especially important to TREASURES’ work on landfill transformation. Jointly led by CEE’s Professor He Jianzhong and Associate Professor Geng Guoqing , Node 2 of TREASURES focuses on recovering, treating and repurposing materials currently sent to, or already stored in, Semakau Landfill.
Resource recovery and reuse
Prof He’s research focuses on environmental resilience, waste-to-resource technologies, and the safe recovery and reuse of waste-derived materials. Over the past two decades, her team has developed science-based approaches to transform waste streams into valuable resources, while ensuring environmental safety, including through the use of specialised microorganisms to remove toxic and persistent organic pollutants.
Under TREASURES, Prof He and Assoc Prof Geng will lead research on practical, low-cost and environmentally sound solutions to reduce landfilling and support the long-term transformation of Semakau from a disposal site into a hub for resource recovery and reuse.
The work builds on CEE’s broader strengths in sustainability, waste treatment and sustainable materials. Key areas relevant to TREASURES include the characterisation and remediation of contaminated waste materials, biological, chemical and thermal treatment technologies, and long-term evaluation to ensure recycled materials are safe, durable and suitable for real-world use.
Through the CEE Centre for Environmental Resilience , led by Prof He, researchers are also bringing together expertise in environmental genomics, biotechnology, monitoring and AI-enabled data analytics to support more sustainable resource recovery.
Another source of expertise within CEE is the Centre for Resource Circularity and Resilience , led by Associate Professor Pang Sze Dai . The centre focuses on upcycling local waste into low-carbon resources, including green cement and green sand, while working with government agencies and corporate partners to translate research into practical solutions for sustainable materials.
Its expertise spans waste materials including marine clay, demolition waste, glass waste, plastic waste, quarry fines, ash waste, sludge waste, slag waste, tunnel muck and battery waste. The centre is also advancing carbon capture, utilisation and storage approaches, including carbon mineralisation, where carbon dioxide is stored within new waste-derived materials while enhancing their properties.
Together, these capabilities strengthen CEE’s contribution to TREASURES by connecting waste treatment, low-carbon materials, environmental safety and real-world applications.
‘Hub for circularity’
“As a key partner in the TREASURES initiative, the National University of Singapore looks forward to contributing our multidisciplinary expertise to address Singapore’s pressing landfill capacity challenges by translating scientific advances into practical environmental solutions,” said Professor Karina Gin, Acting Head of CEE.
“We aim to accelerate the transformation of Semakau Landfill from a conventional waste disposal site into a hub for circularity, extending its operational lifespan and ensuring a more resilient, resource-efficient future for Singapore.”
By connecting CEE’s foundational research strengths with national waste management needs, TREASURES offers a platform to move promising ideas from the laboratory towards pilot testing, industry adoption and future regulatory pathways.
Mr Ng Keng Wei, Group Director, Joint Operations and Technology Group at NEA, said TREASURES would strengthen Singapore’s capabilities in managing complex waste and residue streams by bringing together 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,” he said.