- a) Increase the recycling rate of beverage containers and reduce the amount of waste disposed of as well as carbon emissions; and
- b) Raise consumer awareness on the importance of recycling and encourage good recycling practices.
With a deposit in place, the Scheme will encourage consumers to return their empty beverage containers for recycling. The Scheme will also aggregate clean and high-quality recyclables which can be made into new products.
This scheme was proposed by a Recycle Right Citizens’ Workgroup in 2019 to increase household recycling rates and reduce contamination in the recycling bins. Since 2020, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has been consulting various stakeholders extensively to co-develop a scheme that is suitable for Singapore, including through a REACH public consultation paper from 20 September 2022 to 14 October 2022 (more information including the findings are found here). A Stakeholder Group was also formed from December 2021 to June 2023 to facilitate the development of the Scheme. The Group comprised members from industry, academia, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Views and feedback from these engagements were carefully considered in the development of the Scheme.
The beverage container return scheme adopts an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) approach to manage packaging waste in Singapore. EPR aims to make producers (e.g., manufacturers, importers) responsible for the collection and end-of-life management of the products they put on the market.
Mechanism
Under the Scheme, a 10-cent refundable deposit will be applied on all pre-packaged beverages in plastic and metal containers ranging from 150 millilitres to 3 litres.
The deposit will be fully refunded when customers return empty plastic or metal beverage containers at designated return points, including reverse vending machines. Larger supermarket outlets1 with a floor area of more than 200m2 will be required to set up return points. Supermarkets are major sales channels of pre-packaged beverages and popular return locations. To ensure a convenient return point network for the public, setting up of additional return points in community spaces (e.g., Community Clubs, Town Centres) will be explored.
