First Gathering for SGTech’s Sustainability Committee

SGTech members and industry friends with a keen interest in the topic gathered for SGTech’s first Sustainability Committee meeting on 31 May 2021.

Introduction and the Executive Committee

Mr Andy Sim, Advisor to the Sustainability Committee and SGTech First Vice-Chair, opened the session. After sharing the background of how SGTech’s interest in sustainability has evolved and how the Council decided that it was time to focus our energies by forming a Sustainability Committee, he emphasised that SGTech can bind the community together, and enable companies to collaborate to achieve success in our collective sustainability journey.

The Committee’s Executive Committee comprise representatives from the industry as well as sustainability experts.

Landscape of Sustainability Awareness and Practices in the Tech Industry

The findings from SGTech’s Annual Survey, conducted from mid-February to the end of March this year, shed some light on the sentiments and practices among firms in the tech industry.

Unsurprisingly, large enterprises are way ahead of SMEs in terms of sustainability, both in terms of the proportion of firms having a clear stance on sustainability, as well as the depth and breadth of the sustainability themes they embrace. Of concern is, around 15% of SME respondents did not have an intention to define a position on sustainability, nor have an action or implementation plan for it.

Areas of Focus

As sustainability is a broad topic, it is important to clearly define the most relevant areas for the tech industry, to drive clear actions and tangible results. SGTech’s intended approach can be grouped under the three pillars of Partnering with Government, Awareness, and Collaboration.

The group then discussed SGTech’s focus areas on sustainability in the initial phase. They are aligned to the Singapore Green Plan 2030, and include:

Year 1: E-waste, Packaging & Circular Economy, Green Buildings, Green IT Standards
Year 2 and beyond: Green Energy, Championing Innovations in: Carbon Reduction/ Sustainability Tech, Guidance for Adopting Sustainable Practices

Coming soon: Pilot programme to raise community awareness of e-waste

SGTech’s first public activity on sustainability will be pilot programme to raise community awareness of e-waste.

This activity is meaningful because through SGTech’s engagement with the National Environment Agency (NEA) on e-waste in 2020, we have found other supportive stakeholders, informing us that the time was ripe to form the Sustainability Committee.

As part of the industry’s commitment to work with NEA to make Singapore's e-waste management programme more successful, SGTech will rally industry players, including Producers and others, and work with NEA and other stakeholders to engage members of the public in creative ways to educate and induce the desired behaviours, while modifying entrenched processes and ensuring the proper infrastructure to support the effort.
The pilot programme focusses on the community, and aims to:

Raise awareness about the national movement towards a more sustainable future.
Embark on a joint effort — people, private, and public sector towards the burgeoning problem of e-waste.
Cultivate a habit of consciousness towards the use of electronics.

The programme, to run for ten months (initial phase) from Q3 2021, will involve a collaboration with SGTech member Sustainable Living Labs. It builds on the success and reach of the Repair Kopitiam and, in view of the ongoing pandemic, extends our reach to the community on a virtual platform.

Let’s Journey together

Members are welcome to join the Sustainability Committee to:

Express your view on and contribute to the industry’s sustainability agenda
Learn about the applicability of sustainability to your business and competitiveness

Please reach out at [email protected].