Singapore has launched the Trash-Sure campaign that aims to upcycle discarded waste by turning the materials into public sculptures, all with the aim of raising the focus on how wasteful habits cause pollution and have adverse effects on wildlife.

As part of the campaign, waste collected by the employees of Swiss Bank UBS and Singaporean real estate development and investment company Ho Bee was used by Lisbon-based street artist Bordalo II to create a 10-by-7-metre sculpture of the critically endangered Sumatran tiger. It is the largest upcycled art sculpture in Asia made entirely out of trash.

Bordalo II has more than 240 art pieces in over 20 countries, which he uses to highlight the global wastage of scarce resources and the need to reduce, reuse and recycle. The sculpture in Singapore has been given a prime position in Gardens by the Bay and will remain there for the next three years as a reminder of conservation and biodiversity.

Edmund Koh, president, Asia-Pacific, UBS, says: “We hope that this iconic art piece inspires impactful conversations around sustainability.” 

The Trash-Sure campaign is part of a drive to transform Singapore from what many already consider a green city into becoming an even deeper shade of one. To this end, the city-state launched in February of 2021, the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

The plan set ambitious, concrete and government-backed targets for sustainability over the next 10 years that bolster Singapore’s commitments made under the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Paris agreement, and position it to achieve long-term net-zero emissions as soon as viable.

Under the plan, for example, Singapore is setting aside around 200 hectares of land for nature parks, something that will result in every household living within a 10-minute walk of a park. This is in addition to planting one million trees across the city, with the goal of absorbing 78,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.