Singapore's Buildings are a Mine Worth Billions.
SUM — the Singapore Urban Mining platform — turns demolition and renovation waste into recoverable resources, verified carbon savings, and new revenue streams.
Built for Singapore. Scalable across APAC.
SUM STEERING COMMITTEE
THE CHALLENGE · Why Singapore can no longer afford to Waste what it Builds
Singapore is running out of room for waste — literally. Semakau Landfill, the nation's only offshore waste facility, is projected to reach capacity before 2035. Meanwhile, the construction sector continues to consume resources at an unsustainable rate, with the vast majority of valuable materials lost forever at end of life.
40%
of all raw materials globally consumed by construction
98%
of building materials end in low-value or landfill applications
>50%
of Singapore's building emissions come from embodied carbon
A Waste Crisis with a Deadline
- Semakau Landfill will run out of space before 2035 at current rates. Construction and demolition waste is one of the largest contributors. The window to change course is narrow since:
- Construction consumes 40% of all raw materials globally
- 98% of those materials end in low-value ‘end of life’ applications
- Singapore’s built environment accounts for over 20% of national emissions
- More than 50% of that is embodied carbon — locked inside materials
A Reuse Market held Back by Fragmentation
- Reclaimed materials exist in abundance — but the market to capture their value is broken. Without transparency, trust, or structure, reuse remains an artisanal exception rather than an industrial norm. Indeed:
- No visibility on what reclaimed materials are available or where
- Information is unstructured, siloed, and hard to act on
- Supply and demand are fragmented — one-off trades between strangers
- Recovery remains inefficient, unprofitable, and unscalable at current state
THE SOLUTION · SUM — Singapore Urban Mining
SUM is a collaborative, AI-powered platform that creates an institutional framework for Singapore's built environment — connecting asset owners, contractors, manufacturers and regulators to systematically recover, redeploy and measure the value of construction materials at scale.
It turns transparency into action, and action into policy.
What SUM Does
Creates Market Infrastructure
SUM establishes the institutional trust layer that individual transactions cannot. By bringing public agencies, industry bodies, asset owners and manufacturers into a shared platform, it creates the critical mass needed for reuse to work at industrial scale.
Automates Matching with AI
SUM's AI engine automatically detects matches between available material deposits and active project needs — instantly notifying both parties and enabling seamless communication through the integrated platform.
Digitises the Supply Chain
Pre-Demolition Audits (PDA) and Digital Product Passports (DPP) transform every building into a documented, searchable, tradeable inventory of materials — before a single brick is removed.
Generates Verified ESG Impact
Every reuse operation captured in SUM generates verified ESG output indicators: waste diverted, CO₂ avoided, water preserved, and economic value created — ready for regulatory reporting and investor disclosure.
HOW IT WORKS · From Audit to Impact in 6 Steps
1
Pre-Demolition Audit (PDA)
Before any demolition or renovation begins, SUM's audit framework identifies, catalogues and values every recoverable product and material in the building — by type, condition, quantity and location.
2
Digital Product Passports (DPP)
Each identified material receives a structured Digital Product Passport: a standardised record of composition, technical specifications, embodied carbon (kgCO₂e), condition and reuse potential. This makes materials market-ready.
3
Inventory Publication & Discovery
Verified material inventories are published on the SUM platform. Industry stakeholders — manufacturers, contractors, architects, consultants — can search, filter and express interest in available deposits in real time.
4
AI-Powered Matching
SUM's matching engine automatically pairs available deposits with expressed project needs. Both the resource owner and the requester are instantly notified and can communicate directly through the platform's integrated messaging system.
5
Reuse Completion & Traceability
Once a reuse transaction is completed, the outcome is recorded in the platform — creating an auditable chain of custody and feeding verified data into the ESG impact calculation engine.
6
Real-Time ESG Reporting
SUM automatically generates ESG outflow indicators after each reuse operation: CO₂ emissions avoided, construction waste diverted, water savings, and economic balance. These indicators are audit-ready and aligned with major disclosure frameworks.
WHY JOIN SUM · Benefits Across the Value Chain
Asset Owners & Developers
- Monetise materials before demolition — turn a cost centre into a revenue line
- Reduce waste management fees and landfill charges
- Generate verified ESG data for investor reporting, Green Mark, and BCA compliance
- Demonstrate leadership on Singapore’s circular economy agenda
Contractors & Manufacturers
- Secure supply of pre-qualified reclaimed materials at competitive cost
- Reduce procurement risk with standardised Digital Product Passports
- Meet sustainability procurement mandates with verified material provenance
- Expand service offering to include circular deconstruction and recovery
Architects & Consultants
- Access a verified catalogue of reclaimed materials for new projects
- Reduce embodied carbon in specifications with documented secondary materials
- Streamline Green Mark and SGBC documentation with real-time ESG data
Government & Regulators
- Track material flow KPIs against Singapore’s Zero Waste Masterplan targets
- Access verified urban mining data for policy development and waste planning
- Align with GreenGov.SG objectives and BCA Green Building Masterplan
GOVERNANCE · A Trusted Collective Intelligence Model
SUM is not just a technology platform — it is a governance model. The platform brings together Singapore's key built environment stakeholders in a structured framework that builds institutional trust, manages complexity, and enables scale. Participation is designed to be low-barrier: demand-side members join for free.
Steering Committee — Strategy & Oversight
- Government agencies, academic institutions, industry representatives, and Upcyclea collectively guide SUM’s strategic direction, standards, and resource management.
Free membership. Open to qualifying organisations.
Industry Members — Demand Side
- Manufacturers, contractors, and trade associations define and express their material needs — accessing SUM’s AI-matched supply pipeline.
Free membership.
Deposit Owners — Supply Side
- Asset owners, developers, and builders contribute material deposits to the platform — making their demolition and renovation available to the market.
Access on Subscription.
Resource Manager — The Orchestrator
- A dedicated shared resource manager coordinates the platform across all member categories — ensuring operations run smoothly, standards are maintained, and market confidence grows.
Managed by Upcyclea.
SUM's founding Steering Committee includes: