Instead of heading to the incinerator or rubbish dump, your waste may now be used to create energy and products.

As environmental issues become increasingly important, two companies - Green Rubber Global and Sembcorp - venture forward to literally turn waste into profit.

While recycling itself is not a new concept, it has rapidly gained much spotlight in recent years. Climate change and the soaring prices of oil have led to a search for alternative sources of energy and materials.

The price of oil is correlated to that of rubber and when one increases, so will the other, says Andrew Murray-Watson, Vice President of Corporate Communications, Green Rubber Global. The challenge for them is to truly recycle and reuse rubber, especially from old tyres.

Every year, one billion tyres are discarded, statistics from the International Study Rubber Group show.

In the past, rubber that had undergone the binding process called vulcanisation would not be able to be recycled into new rubber products as it is a non-reversible process.

Billions of discarded tyres now lay in landfills and dumps around the world and they are both pollutants and health hazards.

But Mr Murray-Watson explains that Green Rubber Global's patented chemical DeLink can de-vulcanise waste rubber into little rubber crumbs which can be reused to make new rubber products.

De-vulcanised rubber or 'green rubber' as it is aptly dubbed, is a revolutionary solution.

"When there is disruptive technology, there is bound to be industry scepticism," says Mr Murray-Watson. "The challenge for us would be to balance expectations with demand."

"We want Green Rubber to become a consumer brand," he adds.

So far, products that contain Green rubber include household, car and playground mats. It can also act as a filler asphalt to be used when paving roads.

Mr Murray-Watson also says his company, which is under The Petra Group, is looking to open a factory in China, which will focus on the production of recycled rubber footwear.

"I think footwear will be an exciting market to venture into," he says with a smile.

Just like Green Rubber, Sembcorp is poised to carve out a niche sector for itself by turning waste into energy.

"Singapore produces about 2,000 tonnes of waste everyday," says Tang Kin Fei, Group President and CEO of SembCorp.

"That's a lot of waste. They go into the incinerator," he says.

Mr Tang cites UK Wood Recycling Limited as an example of how waste can be used to produce biomass fuel made from wood chips.

Biomass fuel is a renewable fuel produced by Wilton 10 Biomass Power Station. It is UK's first wood-burning power station.

There are a few reasons why this project would be beneficial, Mr Tang says.

Firstly, high oil prices are a key reason why they are looking at an alternative source of energy. By producing steam from waste instead, it can help halve the cost of energy for their customers.

Additionally, the waste can be converted into fuel, which in turn will be able to produce enough energy to power Jurong Island for example.

These processes, which are also environmentally friendly, help to provide a viable and profitable solution.

Another challenge for the company and the industry in general would be to remain relevant, adds Mr Tang.

"Asia so far has been sustaining a high growth rate", he says. "It is necessary for us to keep improving ourselves."

Research was started on the 'waste-to-resource' project late last year. The project, which is still under comissioning, is slated to be launched by the end of this year.

Both companies will be featured in an upcoming series 'Rising Asian Dragons 2' on ChannelNewsAsia. The 5-part series will begin airing at 9.30 p.m. on 19th June 2008.