It's hard to imagine the amount of waste Singapore produces with our surroundings looking clean and neat.

And all this can be attributed to some 58,000 cleaners that work tirelessly every day to keep this city cleaned and green.

But for one day in 2020, cleaners will get a break from work, and residents and volunteers will take over.

Becoming cleaners for a day

CleanSG Day is an initiative led by Singapore's Public Hygiene Council, which will take place on a specific day in April 2020.

Residents, green groups and volunteers will gather to organise and participate in cleanup activities.

With this, the council hopes to raise awareness of littering and waste generation among Singaporeans, and encourage people to "take personal responsibility" for the cleanliness of the country's public and common spaces.

Meanwhile, cleaners nationwide will get a day off but it is unconfirmed if they will be paid on that day, according to Eco-Business.

The council had run a CleanSG Day earlier in May 2019 where residents, employees and patrons of 134 McDonald's outlets, 10 parks and three Kopitiam outlets cleaned up after a meal and disposed of their rubbish in common areas.

Although the Public Hygiene Council has yet to officially confirm an exact date for 2020's CleanSG Day, a source revealed to Eco-Business that the initiative would be held on Apr. 27 in view of Earth Day, which falls on Apr. 22 every year.

Mothership has contacted the council for more information and will update the article when they reply.

Zero waste campaign

Singapore generated 7.7 million tonnes of solid waste in 2018, according to statistics by the National Environment Agency.

Out of all the solid waste generated, only 60 per cent is recycled. The rest is incinerated.

Only 22 per cent of domestic waste, which refers to waste generated by households, is recycled.

Currently, the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources has embarked on a year-long zero-waste campaign, designating 2019 as the Year Towards Zero Waste.

This has involved public education and outreach efforts and improving recycling infrastructure with the help of a zero waste masterplan.

In April earlier this year, Nee Soon East was the first district to launch its very own zero waste masterplan targeting the reduction of single-use plastics, food waste and e-waste, among others.

The island-state also has a strict stance on littering, with litterbugs potentially paying a maximum fine of S$2,000 for their first court conviction.

Top photo from Stuart Herring / FB

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