SG Eco Loop 2.0:
The Nationwide Quest for the Next Generation of Sustainable Innovators
Scaling Youth Innovation for Plastic and Food Waste Reduction.
SG Eco Loop 2.0:
The Nationwide Quest for the Next Generation of Sustainable Innovators
Scaling Youth Innovation for Plastic and Food Waste Reduction.
What is SG Eco Loop?
SG Eco Loop is a nationwide programme that gets students building, not just learning about sustainability. Each cohort takes on a real plastic or food waste problem, works with industry mentors, and builds a prototype that gets tested where it actually matters, on campus, in a hawker centre, or out in the community. Students walk away with something real they built, industry mentors who saw their work, and a shot at $1,000 for the winning team.
Step out of the classroom and into the real thing. Students work alongside people from industry to build and test solutions that hold up outside a slide deck.
Why This Matters Now?
Tackling the Global Waste Challenge
In 2024, NEA recorded Singapore’s national recycling rate at its lowest level in a decade, highlighting urgent gaps in how waste is managed, reduced, and recovered across everyday systems.
Making a Measurable Impact
Across four cohorts, the programme aims to divert 10,000 kg of plastic and food waste, tracked and validated through real-world deployment across community and industry settings.
Building a Sustainable Culture
Expanding collective responsibility nationwide, nurturing students and their families as community problem-solvers.
Innovation with Momentum
Empowering youths with skills in creative problem-solving, technical learning, and entrepreneurship, for sustained change.
A Nationwide Platform for Student Innovation & Impact
Educators
A Nationwide Platform for Student Innovation & Impact
SG Eco Loop is a structured, real-world innovation challenge that pushes students beyond the classroom to solve urgent sustainability issues through design thinking, collaboration, and entrepreneurial action.
SG Eco Loop is a structured, real-world innovation challenge that pushes students beyond the classroom to solve urgent sustainability issues through design thinking, collaboration, and entrepreneurial action.
Working alongside industry mentors and delivery partners, students develop and pilot real-world industry solutions for the opportunity to secure actual commercial deployment.
Working alongside industry mentors and delivery partners, students develop and pilot real-world industry solutions for the opportunity to secure actual commercial deployment.
Why Partner With SG Eco Loop?
Build Future-Ready Graduates
Equip students with the problem-solving, collaboration, and innovation skills employers demand.
Connect Students to Industry
Open doors through mentorship, exposure, and exclusive internship opportunities that create clear career pathways.
Turn Learning Into Impact
Move beyond theory with hands-on, real-world sustainability challenges.
Contribute to Singapore’s Communities
Empower students to work directly with neighborhoods, households, and industry partners, driving meaningful environmental change at the grassroots level.
Create Showcase-Worthy Outcomes
Give students tangible projects and prototypes they can proudly present to employers and the public.
Strengthen Institutional Leadership
Position your institution at the forefront of sustainability, innovation, and experiential education.
In Support of:
We are proud to collaborate with Institutes of Higher Learning across Singapore to shape a generation of students who don’t just study sustainability, but actively design, build, and lead it.
Supported by:
Programme Partners
Supported by:
Catalysed by:
Part of:
In Support of:
IHL Partner:
Community Partners:
Build Real Solutions. Connect with Industry Mentors. Prepare to Map Your Future Career Pathway.
Students
Work with your team to explore a real-life waste challenge in Singapore, shape ideas, and test solutions for a chance to be adopted by industries. Get supported by industry mentors to build practical skills in problem-solving, communication, collaboration, and innovation that line up your career opportunities post-graduation.
CV-Worthy Experience
Stand out with a recognised extracurricular achievement that proves you can tackle complex, real-world problems.
Funding to Build
Top teams receive a prototyping budget to turn ideas into working solutions, not just concepts.
Direct Access to Mentors
Get feedback and guidance from founders, venture partners, and sustainability experts who are building in the real world.
Direct Internship Pathways
Gain meaningful internship opportunities through participation in SG Eco Loop and by showcasing your projects directly to our network of industry partners.
Ready to Build Something That Matters?
A Curated Learning Journey per Cohort
Meet your team, pick your waste problem, and get the lay of the land. All online, so anyone can join from anywhere.
Phase 2: Hackathon Weekend (5 to 6 Sep)
Phase 1: Learn & Build (Weeks 1-4)
Phase 1: Kick-Off (26 Aug)
Two days to shape your idea and build a first working prototype, with mentors in the room to help you move fast.
Capacity-building workshops on the circular economy, business basics, and digital tools like AR/VR for prototyping.
Phase 2: Present PoC (Week 5)
Milestone Presentation. Pitch your Proof-of-Concept (PoC) to a jury of experts.
Phase 3: Prototype (Weeks 6-12)
The top 40 teams per cohort receive mentorship to pilot their solutions in communities or industries.
Phase 3: Mentor Check-Ins (Sep)
Two sessions where you test what you built with real users, see what breaks, and make it better with an industry mentor guiding you.
Phase 4: Showcase (Week 13)
Present your innovation at a public Showcase Day event to hundreds.
Phase 4: Showcase (3 Oct)
Present your solution at a public Showcase Day at Temasek Shophouse, in front of industry, government, and the crowd.
Phase 5: Deployment
After the Showcase, selected solutions will begin deployment in industries and communities.
After the Showcase, selected solutions get support to run in real communities and industry settings, where they actually cut waste.
Phase 5: Deployment
Our Impact
Proven Success. Scalable Future.
The 2025 Pilot Results at ITE College Central demonstrated the power of youth-led solutions.
92
unique participants creating 25 Proof-of-Concept ideas
Top 5
received funding for prototype development
19,500
residents reached through online marketing
Frequently Asked Questions
For Institutions & Educators
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No. While our pilot focused on ITE College Central, SG Eco Loop 2.0 is a nationwide quest that invites all tertiary students across Singapore.
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We want to support your institution with student engagement by facilitating hands-on innovation by transforming utility spaces such as kitchens, labs, or campus sorting points into active testing hubs and ensuring students have the resources to advance their prototypes.
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This is our top priority. Our programme is designed to spur active participation using evidence-based curriculum that has been tried and tested with thousands of tertiary students by aligning projects with professional outcomes, where student see immediate value in their participation.
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Spread across about 6 weeks (26 August to 3 October), students join four set touchpoints: an online kick-off, a full weekend hackathon (5 to 6 Sep), two mentor check-ins, and the final showcase on stage at Temasek Shophouse. Everything else is self-paced team work, so it flexes around school.
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Not at all! We provide the training, tools, and mentorship needed to build your solution, including workshops on design thinking and digital prototyping tools like AR/VR.
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While only the winning team wins SGD1,000, every team in the programme gets up to $200 prototyping budget and the opportunity to pilot their solution in a real-world community or industry setting. By showcasing your project to industry and community partners, you will gain a chance to work with industry through innovation projects and internship opportunities. You will also gain a lifetime membership to the Singapore Deep-Tech Alliance (SDTA) for ongoing career exposure.
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Yes! We encourage you to involve your family to join you in designing and implementing solutions that work right at home.
For Students & Families
JOIN THE LOOP
Students turn waste problems into real prototypes. Partners help them get there. Pick how you want to join the loop.
To find out more, you may contact us at sgecoloop@sdta.org.sg