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SINGAPORE: Singapore residents who want to find their nearest beverage container return machine can do so from Wednesday (Mar 18) with the launch of a search function on the website for the upcoming new national recycling scheme.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS) which is set to launch on Apr 1, residents can find locations of the Return Right machines and their operating hours via returnright.sg. It will also include the locations of about 160 upcoming machines that will be deployed progressively in the coming months.<\/p>\n
A total of 1,070 machines will be deployed across Singapore during the launch, with over 90 per cent of Housing and Development Board (HDB) households within a five-minute walk of a machine. The number of return points is expected to double to 2,000 within the first year of implementation.<\/p>\n
In addition to housing estates, more than 430 supermarkets and retail outlets will have Return Right machines in their premises, the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Beverage Container Return Scheme Limited (BCRS Ltd), the consortium appointed to operate the scheme, said in a joint media factsheet on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The machines will also be deployed at more than 610 Town Council-managed areas, as well as at 17 hawker centres that see high footfall, the agency and operator added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Within the next few months, all hawker centres will have either an on-site machine or have access to a machine nearby.<\/p>\n
Other key locations include institutes of higher learning, which will each have at least one machine. For industrial areas, 36 locations with high footfall areas will also have machines deployed in the coming months.<\/p>\n
Additional locations will be identified based on the beverage container return rate and footfall patterns of workers in industrial areas, NEA and BCRS Ltd said.<\/p>\n
Plans are also underway for the machines to be available at large migrant worker dormitories and all recreation centres, they added.<\/p>\n
BCRS Ltd will monitor return patterns and gather feedback from the community to determine optimal placement for new return points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These updates were shared during a preview of the Return Right machines on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Janil Puthucheary, who attended the event, told reporters that those involved in the scheme want to work with feedback as well as suggestions from consumers, retailers and producers on where they can further deploy the machines.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under the beverage container return scheme, consumers will pay a S$0.10 (US$0.08) refundable deposit when purchasing pre-packaged beverages in plastic bottles or metal cans between 150ml to 3L.<\/p>\n
Eligible containers will carry a new BCRS deposit mark, making it easy for consumers to identify which drinks come with the charge.<\/p>\n
Refunds will be credited to EZ-Link cards, concession cards or DBS PayLah! wallets.<\/p>\n
Three network operators – RVM Systems, SG Recycle and TOMRA – have been appointed to support the nationwide rollout of the scheme. These operators will supply and manage the entire network of Return Right machines across Singapore, handling end-to-end deployment and operations at supermarkets and community locations.<\/p>\n
This includes installing and maintaining the machines, ensuring uptime and reliability, and managing the collection of returned containers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n