The National Environment Administration will inject 5 million yuan in subsidies for the renovation and deep cleaning of coffee shop toilets to promote coffee shop operators to renovate toilets, and plan deep cleaning work as part of standard operations to further improve the hygiene level of public toilets.

Ma Yanqing, the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Environment and Senior Deputy Minister of Transportation, said Tuesday (March 4) that the government has accepted the recommendations submitted by the Public Toilet Working Group, including the infusion of the two proposed subsidies for the group, and more details will be released later this year.

He said the coffee shop is run by private operators, but the toilets are for use by diners and passers-by and are a public space in the community. “Especially when society is aging, it may be more difficult for older people to control their bladder and intestines. Coffee shops are places where residents gather, and instead of building new community public toilets, the government can use the characteristics of coffee shops to improve problems.”

The Ministry of Sustainability said that the launch of the Coffeeshop Toilet Renovation Grant is to encourage coffee shop operators to start renovation work and strive to obtain certification for the Recreation Public Toilet Program. Businesses can apply to the Environment Bureau for funding up to 95% of the renovation costs, with the maximum limit of each coffee shop being 50,000 yuan.

Under the Coffeeshop Toilet Deep Cleaning Grant, coffee shop operators can apply for up to 95% of the allowance for two-year deep cleaning contract fees, with the maximum limit of each coffee shop being 25,000 yuan. Coffee shops that have successfully applied also have the opportunity to allow cleaning staff to receive free training.

Further reading

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The team recommends four-pronged approach to improve public toilet hygiene

The Ministry of Sustainability announced the establishment of a public toilet working group in March last year, led by Ma Yanqing and President of the Public Health Council Kang Andrew, with the goal of reviewing how to improve the cleaning of public toilets, especially in coffee shops and toilets in hawker centers.

The team members come from government departments, municipal councils, chambers of commerce, non-governmental organizations, academia and facility management agencies, etc. In addition to holding regular review meetings, the group also visited toilets in different local locations, and went to Japan and China to learn from the teachings in April and November last year, hoping to bring best practices abroad back to Singapore.

The team submitted a review report last month. In addition to suggesting the provision of toilet renovation subsidies and toilet deep cleaning subsidies, it also formulated an ideal public toilet design list, which put forward a total of 10 suggestions from four aspects: toilet design, cleaning operations and technology, monitoring and law enforcement, and publicity, and takes a multi-pronged approach to improve the hygiene level of public toilets.

Last year, 11 coffee shops were ordered to suspend business if they failed to meet the standards

The Environment Agency and the Singapore Food Agency jointly strengthened the ban last year, and took about 1,300 enforcement actions against the owners or managers of the premises, more than three times the number of the previous year.

Last year, the Food Bureau also assessed that the toilet hygiene and food safety of 11 coffee shops were not up to standard, and ordered these coffee shops to suspend business under the illegal scoring system. Only one cafe will be closed due to similar problems in 2022 and 2023.

According to the “Project Waterloo” survey released by Singapore Management University last year, the average score of coffee shop toilets is 46.26, basically the same as the level since 2016. The hawker center toilet scored 66.28 points, higher than in 2020 and 2023, but still lower than the 2016 level.

The survey's rating range is from zero (dirtiest) to 100 (cleanest). According to the survey standards, the reasonable cleaning score of public toilets should reach 50 points.