A man was recently fined $8,000 for illegally disposing of furniture in a public place.
Yes, you read that right. It is illegal for you to dump or dispose of waste in a public place. You might be charged under section 20(1)(a) of the Environmental Public Health Act.
With Chinese New Year spring cleaning coming up, many Singaporeans might have a few bulky items here and there to dispose of. If so, here’s a tip from Goody Feed: Don’t dispose of them at your void deck.
Instead, here are a few hacks to dispose of that chair in your room with six broken legs. The best part is this — you don’t even have to pay a single cent.
Truly, heng, ong, huat!
1. Town Council Bulky Item Removal Services
For most of us ‘commoners’ staying in HDB flats, it isn’t uncommon to see furniture scattered around our void decks, left behind by residents trying to ‘Marie Kondo’ their homes.
If you’re guilty of doing that, we’ve got some news — all town councils offer a free bulky item removal service, so you should stop throwing your unwanted furniture downstairs.
Yes, the removal service is free — no terms and conditions or whatnot. The town council is not one of those insurance agents lurking around bus interchanges.
Each town council has a bulky item removal service for HDB residents under their town council’s purview. For instance, Chua Chu Kang Town Council’s bulky item removal service is only for Chua Chu Kang HDB residents. If you’re from Bishan, don’t expect to use the Chua Chu Kang Town Council’s bulky item removal service.
However, there are two key restrictions to the service.
First, the free-of-charge service is limited to three items per household per month. If you’re a chronic IKEA shopper with too much furniture you’d like to dispose of, you should find another solution (Psst… We have another hack for you below.) or perhaps consider breaking out of your shopping habits…
Second, the service does not include the removal of certain ‘bulky items’. However, the rules differ for different town councils. For instance, for the Chua Chu Kang Town Council, the removal of the following ‘bulky items’ are precluded:
- Renovation-debris
- Built-in fixtures such as false ceilings and kitchen cabinets
- Large furniture and items such as 3-door wardrobes, 4-feet cabinets, pianos and safes
For the Ang Mo Kio Town Council, the rule is by the dimensions of the ‘bulky item’ instead — the maximum dimension of each item to be disposed of being 2.1m x 0.9m.
Interested? Here’s what you need to do to engage the removal service:
- Click on your town council’s website from the list of town council websites below.
- Follow the instructions on the town councils’ website to arrange for the service.
- Upon hearing back from the town council on the appointed day and time for the removal service, place your bulky items outside your flat before the appointed day and time.
- The town council’s removal service will collect your bulky items on the appointed day and time.
- Go on the IKEA website and get new furniture (we’re kidding about this last step)
Do note that advanced notice is required to use this service. The period of notice would depend on your town council — while Chua Chu Kang Town Council requires three days’ notice, the Jurong-Clementi Town Council requires two days’ notice.
By engaging the town council’s removal service, not only do you avoid breaking the law, but you also save yourself the trouble of having to carry that nasty ten-year-old sofa with dust all over it.
Value-town, if you ask me.
And don’t say Goody Feed buey brother — we’ve linked all the respective town councils’ websites for the bulky item removal service:
- Aljunied-Hougang
- Ang Mo Kio
- Bishan-Toa Payoh
- Chua Chu Kang
- East Coast
- Holland-Bukit Panjang
- Jalan Besar
- Jurong-Clementi
- Marine Parade
- Marsiling-Yew Tee
- Nee Soon
- Pasir Ris-Punggol
- Sembawang
- Sengkang
- Tampines
- Tanjong Pagar
- West Coast
2. Bulky Item Bins at Private Properties
As for those staying in private properties, the town council bulky item removal service isn’t available to you. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a free-of-charge solution for you, either.
As we approach the festive season, bins for bulky items will be placed near your properties. You may dispose of your bulky items here for free.
Of course, these bins are popular — even more so than McDonald’s Hello Kitty plushies.
So, if you don’t manage to dispose of your bulky items in these bins before other people beat you to it, then too bad, you’re not a true blue kiasu Singaporean.
As a result, you might have to contact the public waste collector (PWC) serving your estate to remove your bulky items at a separate fee.
Alternatively, you may engage a licensed waste collector to help you remove your bulky items.
Yes, you read that right. If you’re engaging someone other than the PWC to remove your bulky items this Chinese New Year, that ‘someone’ must be licensed. You can find a list of licensed waste collectors here.
If you still have bulky items that you cannot get rid of, fret not. There’s one last resort for you.
Instead of throwing your items at the HDB void deck, try listing your items on Carousell.
You can list your bulky items for a reasonable price or list them for free to get rid of them quickly.
More often than not, those scouting for ‘free’ bulky items on Carousell are looking to resell these items for an easy profit — you’ll probably have a higher chance of getting rid of your bulky items if you list them for free.
And at the end of the day, it’s free for you as well — it’s almost like a DIY town council bulky item removal service.
If you’d like to find out more about these bulky item removal hacks, watch this video here:
