Singapore is advancing plans to incorporate waste-derived materials into the large-scale reclamation works at Tuas Port, marking a significant step toward greater material self-sufficiency in one of the nation's most ambitious infrastructure programmes.

The initiative gained prominence following the recent conferral of Singapore's President's Science and Technology Awards - the country's highest honour for the scientific community. Professor Lee Chuan Heng, Chairman of the Singapore Government's Science and Technology Advisory Council, received the President's Science and Technology Medal in recognition of his contributions to national planning across energy, environmental sustainability, and underground space utilisation. Among the projects that distinguished his work is a study examining the potential use of incineration bottom ash, sludge, and cement - sourced from the Semakau Landfill - as a composite construction material suitable for land reclamation.

Speaking to Lianhe Zaobao, Professor Lee confirmed that the technology has completed laboratory-stage validation at the National University of Singapore, with deployment in Tuas Port's reclamation works projected to begin progressively from 2029.

The Tuas Port reclamation project is one of the largest of its kind in the region, and its construction has historically depended heavily on imported sea sand - a dependency that exposes the programme to regional geopolitical pressures and supply chain price volatility. The waste-to-fill approach under exploration represents a strategic alternative, one with international precedent: the port of Osaka, Japan, has previously employed municipal waste and contaminated soil in comparable reclamation operations.

According to planning data disclosed by the National Environment Agency, Singapore intends to excavate approximately 10 million cubic metres of mixed solid waste from Semakau Landfill - comprising primarily incineration bottom ash and non-incinerable sludge. Tuas Port Phase 3 reclamation works require in excess of 100 million cubic metres of fill material in total. Cement-stabilised waste derivatives are projected to substitute for approximately 10 percent of conventional sea sand requirements, positioning this programme not merely as a cost-mitigation measure, but as a demonstrable model of circular resource utilisation within critical national infrastructure.