Singapore is expanding its national cleanliness efforts beyond streets and residential estates, with the Public Hygiene Council (PHC) partnering Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) on a new initiative focused on keeping the country’s coastal areas and surrounding waters clean.
The partnership was formalised on Sept. 26 through a Memorandum of Understanding during a cross-sector dialogue at the Singapore Oceanarium Research and Learning Centre. The initiative will focus on the connection between land-based litter and marine pollution, with the aim of encouraging communities to take greater responsibility for waste that can eventually reach the sea.
PHC said rubbish left in streets and residential areas can be carried through Singapore’s drainage networks during heavy rain before eventually reaching coastal waters. The council also highlighted the role of ocean currents in carrying marine debris across national boundaries, making coastal cleanliness a regional environmental issue.
The new partnership comes as PHC marks its 15th anniversary. The council said a March 2026 survey involving more than 400 residents found that over 99 per cent recognised the importance of individual and collective responsibility for maintaining public cleanliness.
However, PHC also identified a gap between awareness and everyday behaviour, with residents not always consistently putting basic cleanliness habits into practice.
The initiative will go beyond conventional beach-cleaning activities. A key programme under the partnership will be a customised Train-the-Trainers course focused on coastal cleanliness and marine pollution prevention.
The programme is expected to equip more than 200 corporate members of PHC’s Corporate Action Network and thousands of volunteers from the R.I.S.E. Champions Network with practical knowledge and skills for protecting coastal environments. The volunteer network brings together more than 60 interest groups and non-governmental organisations.
Participants will also be able to take part in educational learning journeys at the Singapore Oceanarium, where they can see the effects of marine debris on ocean life. Members of the public will additionally have opportunities to participate in citizen-science and research projects involving coastal monitoring and data collection.
RWS has already conducted coastal cleanup activities ahead of the partnership. In September 2026, Singapore Oceanarium staff and Sentosa Development Corporation volunteers collected 256kg of marine debris from Singapore’s shores.
The programme builds on PHC’s wider network of community-led cleanliness initiatives. The council currently operates 29 Clean Pods containing free tools such as tongs, grabbers and pails for groups conducting ground-up cleanups.
Two additional Clean Pods are also expected to open in Nee Soon South and Tampines East, bringing the nationwide total to 31.
PHC has also expanded its Cleanhood programme, which involved 230 primary and secondary schools in 2025 and 129 preschools in 2026. The council has also conducted community engagement programmes involving ASEAN residents living in Singapore.
The coastal initiative comes as Singapore continues to place greater emphasis on protecting its marine environment alongside managing the challenges of urbanisation, climate change and coastal resilience. National water agencies have also been investing in research and projects focused on coastal protection and flood resilience.
For the PHC and RWS partnership, the focus is ultimately on changing how people view marine pollution — not simply as a problem found at the beach, but as something that can begin much farther inland.
The bigger challenge will be turning awareness into consistent habits, while building a wider network of volunteers, businesses and communities capable of keeping Singapore’s shores and waters cleaner over the long term.
